Olive Garden makes some great soups, but you can make them better by choosing better ingredients and putting your own spin on it.

One way to make soup quicker and boost flavor is to saute or cook components individually before adding together. Step one here is to saute the vegetables. For this soup, onion, carrot, celery and garlic are used. You can also saute the spinach once the other vegetables are done (as spinach takes less time to cook).

Next add chicken broth and/or water. You can adjust the ratio here.  For this soup, I like 4 cups chicken broth and 3-4 cups water. Some recipes only call for broth.

Add cooked chicken. I buy a rotisserie chicken, and use a combination of white and dark meat, chop it up then add. Whatever chicken or meat you add, make sure it’s precooked before you add it. You could also take chicken breast, salt pepper and roast in oven. Add it to the simmer.

Cook gnocchi according to package instructions. It may still need cooking time once you add it to the soup. I’ve found it improves and thickens as it breaks down slightly. You can also wait to add the spinach at the end, but it will take longer than if you saute ahead of time.

Add half and half and season with salt, pepper, basil and oregano.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cup chicken, cut in bite size pieces (rotisserie works well)
• 2 TB vegetable oil or olive oil
• 2 TB butter
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrot, juliened
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 oz (3 cups) baby spinach (or regular) stems removed, torn
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 lb gnocchi
• salt, pepper, basil, garlic salt, garlic powder and oregano (to taste)
• chicken seasoning (optional).

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat up dutch oven or large pot. Add oil and butter and saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic until soft and translucent (approximately 10 minutes).
2. Add enough of the chicken broth to cool the vegetables and keep them from burning.
3. Add baby spinach and cook down until slightly wilted (2 minutes).
4. Add remaining chicken broth, half and half and water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
5. Add chicken and let simmer.
6. Cook gnocchi according to package instructions. Add gnocchi to the soup and let simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add seasoning as desired. Salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, garlic powder, garlic salt and oregano work well. If desired add chicken seasoning.
8. It doesn’t hurt to let it simmer for a while longer after all ingredients are added. This will allow the flavors to come together and co-mingle.