This Italian soup experiment was a huge success.
As it should be because the Italian's know their food pairings and seasonings.
This is the first time I've cooked gnocchi, not an applause worthy feat, since all you have to do is boil it for 1-2 min until they puff up. But, I've had to desire to use it and I'm thankful it helped create such a wonderful dish.
I must also note that there is no half and half or evaporated milk in this. To make this creamy soup I just used chicken stock and 3oz of 1/3 less fat cream cheese. Easy, healthier, and still gave this soup a wonderful texture.
Feel free to add in fresh ingredients if you have them on hand but I just used the dry seasonings I had and it was still fantastic.
Inspired from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
Ingredients:
1 lb gnocchi
1 lb Italian sausage (any sausage will will work really)*
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
3 tbs minced garlic cloves, about 4 cloves
1 small yellow or white onion
4 small sweet peppers or 1 large red or orange pepper, chopped
32 oz chicken stock
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
3 oz reduced fat cream cheese
olive oil, for sauteing
salt and pepper, to taste
* you can keep the casing on and have large cuts of sausage in your soup or remove the casing and break it apart (like ground turkey-esk)
Directions:
In a skillet brown sausage to your liking, set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large soup pot on medium heat.
Add chopped onions and bell peppers and saute until unions are translucent.
Add in garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add in cooked sausage, chicken stock, and all seasonings. Bring to simmer for 20 min.
Next, add in gnocchi and chopped spinach and bring to a boil for 1-3 min, until gnocchi is puffy and floating to the top of your soup.
Reduce heat to medium and add in the 3 oz of cream cheese in small chunks and stir into the soup until incorporated into the soup.
Serve warm and top with Parmesan cheese if desired.
