Tuscan Gnocchi Soup ♥

So, today I woke up and for the first time in a few months, the house was chilly.  An unwelcome reminder that soon, we will have to put the heat on as Fall is definitely upon us.  So, I was inspired to break out the most requested soup recipe in my household.  Tuscan Gnocchi Soup.  It’s one of those soups that’s super easy to throw together, but beyond fabulous and tastes like you slaved for hours!  No one will be the wiser….I won’t tell anyone that it only takes about an hour to make 😉 😉

Now, it does have quite a few ingredients in it, but trust me, when you taste it…..You’ll have no complaints.  So, let’s get started.  Now as with my last recipes, I will walk you through the process first, and then post the recipe at the end.  Here we go…. 🙂

Here are the majority of your ingredients.  There are a few finishing ones at the end too.  I use a turkey sausage for this recipe, which cuts down on your fat and cholesterol considerably.  There are some small baby potatoes, roasted red peppers, baby spinach, lentils in a can, and a few staples like onion, garlic, chicken broth and you’ll need a little flour for thickening.  But we’ll run the list at the end with the full recipe. Also, for this recipe, I prefer the frozen Gnocchi as opposed to the dried ones you can find in the regular pasta section of the grocery store.  As you can see, this is actually a pretty healthy recipe.  It’s also hearty, and stands alone as a meal. Just add a little Parmesan cheese and some nice crusty bread, and you have a warm and satisfying meal 🙂

    First off, dice up your onion and the jar of roasted red peppers.  Then, mince the garlic pretty fine.

Now add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a skillet and warm it up.  Then….now this is a little gross….and the photo looks a little….um, unappealing at first….BUT….take your sausage links and squeeze the sausage out of it’s casing into the skillet.  Break this up like you would ground beef, and brown.  Now, I also throw in a little crushed red pepper flake at this point because I buy the mild sausage and this way I can control the heat in the soup 🙂  You don’t have to add it though if you don’t want heat.

This looks a little better 🙂

Now,  take the sausage out of the pan but leave the drippings in there.

Now we’re gonna add our diced onion, garlic, and roasted red pepper to the pan drippings…..  yummmmmm….. 🙂  Let those cook up about 3 or 4 minutes.

  Now we’re gonna transfer the mixture to our soup pot and add the sausage back in.

Now, add in the third of a cup of flour and a teaspoon of dried italian seasoning.  Up to this point, you may have noticed that I have not added any salt and pepper to this recipe at all.   There is a reason for that…..I feel the sausage and the Broth add enough saltiness to the soup without the addition of any salt.  Now, you can do whatever you like…. I won’t tell anyone 🙂

  Now add the chicken broth and pop the lid on, and bring up to a boil.   At which point…..

  …we will add our diced potatoes.   And simmer for about 20 minutes.

While that is happening,

Let’s chop up our spinach.  And gather our finishing ingredients.

These include the frozen Gnocchi, our low fat half and half and some fresh basil.   So far, so good….. Almost there boys and girls … 🙂

Okay, let’s assume the soup has finished simmering….. Ta-Da!! Magic!!  Now drop in your frozen gnocchi…. I add about a bag and a half because my people insist upon such things…. Haha!! Okay, maybe I insist upon it…. nonetheless….  😀   We shall let that cook about 3-4 minutes on an easy boil.

Time to finish up.  Add in the one cup of low fat half and half and our chopped spinach.  Stir till spinach wilts.

And that’s it….  We finish it off with some chopped Basil…

Isn’t it divine?  Now, somewhere along the line, I also added a can of drained lentils…. but I forgot to document that.  Sorry kids 😦

And now…. the full recipe.  I hope you’ll try this recipe, and enjoy it as much as my family does!!

It’s good for the soul ♥♥

Tuscan Gnocchi Sausage Soup

1 yellow onion, diced.

4 Cloves garlic, minced.

1/3 cup flour

a dash or so of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 small jar Roasted Red Peppers (12oz.)

5-6 Small (bite-sized) potatoes, diced.

1 can Lentils (14oz.), drained.

2 Cups Baby Spinach… more or less, depending on preference.  Chopped.

1-1/2 Lb frozen Gnocchi

1 Cup Low-fat Half and Half

1 Tsp. dried Italian Seasoning or just Oregano

1 or 2 Tbsp. chopped Fresh Basil

2- 320z. containers Chicken Broth.

1 Lb. Mild Italian Turkey Sausage

1 cup water

1. In a large skillet, add about 2 tablespoons olive oil.   Remove casings from turkey sausage and add to skillet along with a dash or two of crushed red pepper flake.  Break up sausage, and brown over medium heat until done.  Remove sausage from skillet to a bowl and set aside.  Leave drippings in the pan, and add chopped onion, roasted red pepper and garlic…. saute for about 5 minutes.   Then transfer mixture into a soup pot along with the cooked turkey sausage.

Add the 1/3 cup of flour to the mixture and mix thoroughly.  Add in the dried Italian seasoning, and the two containers of chicken broth.  Raise heat, and bring mixture up to a boil.  Then add in your diced potatoes….and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Add in the one cup of water and bring mixture back up to a boil and throw in the frozen Gnocchi.  Cook, uncovered for about 3-4 minutes.  Lower heat back down and throw in drained can of lentils and chopped spinach.   Stir till spinach wilts.

Finish the soup with the one cup of low-fat half and half and chopped basil.

Serve with a nice salad and Crusty Italian bread 🙂

And Enjoy!! 🙂