Restaurant-Style Chicken And Gnocchi Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (32 ounce) carton chicken broth, or to taste, divided
1 (16 ounce) package gnocchi
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 quart half-and-half
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Heat butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion, celery, and garlic until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Whisk in flour and stir until the mixture becomes thick and light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Bring 2 cups chicken broth to a boil in a pot. Cook gnocchi in the boiling broth until they float to the top, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to a plate and reserve the broth in the pot. Place chicken in the broth and return it to a boil. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside, about 7 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Stir spinach, carrots, parsley, and thyme into the saucepan with the flour mixture and place over medium heat. Stir in half-and-half and bring to a boil. Cook until starting to thicken, about 3 minutes. Add 2 cups chicken broth. Bring back to a boil and simmer until soup is thick and smooth, 10 to 15 minutes.
Stir gnocchi and chicken into the soup and season with salt and pepper.