Souper Duper

I'll admit it. I love Olive Garden. I love the salad. I love the bread sticks. I love the Limoncello Lemonade. We all know by now that I'm a fussy eater. Not very adventurous. I like what I like and that's all that I like (am I channeling Popeye?). Before Hermit Crab went back to college, we spent a day together making some purchases for school and just hanging before she left me again. Going to Olive Garden was an easy decision as it is right next to the mall.


She had taken her sister there earlier in the summer (and they didn't kill each other!) HC isn't a big fan of the salad, so she tried the Chicken Gnocchi soup and loved it. She ordered it again this time and I tried a bite....and then another. It was so good. I wish I had ordered it instead of the salad.

I had an idea of how to put it together at home. Then I Googled it. Turns out I was wrong on most parts. Well, some parts. I'm going to try it the way I originally thought, but this is probably closer to how they make it at the restaurant.

Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi Soup

1/3 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound chicken, cubed
1/3 cup flour
1/2 a carrot, shredded
1 stalk celery, shredded
1/4 cup onion, shredded
1/2 cup spinach leaves, torn (I totally forgot to buy!)
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Gnocchi

Melt butter over medium heat in a soup pot. Add garlic and onion and saute. Add chicken and cook through. Add flour and stir in well to cook out raw flour taste. Add milk and cream and stir well. Add carrots and celery and the bouillon cubes. Cook and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes; add gnocchi the last 5 minutes. Serve with bread of your choice (I made a no-knead loaf-yum!)

I'll admit that I'm not a HUGE soup fan-a small bowl every now and then is fine with me. However, if we ever move to Iceland, soup will be in our future-it is like the national dish there!