Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

We LOVED this soup!  Once again, I found it on allrecipes.com I made a few small changes but made "as is" it would be just as good!

Ingredients


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, shredded
1 pound cooked, cubed chicken breast
4 cups chicken broth
1 (16 ounce) package mini potato gnocchi
1 (6 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
2 tablespoons cold water (optional)
2 cups half-and-half cream
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions
1.Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, garlic, and carrots in the hot oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in cubed chicken and chicken broth; bring to a simmer.

2.Stir gnocchi into the simmering soup and cook until they begin to float, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in spinach; cook until wilted, about 3 additional minutes.

3.Whisk cornstarch into cold water until smooth. Stir cornstarch mixture and half-and-half into simmering soup. Cook until soup thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

**I couldn't find mini gnocchi, so I just cut each one in half and they were perfect.  I also forgot the spinach - but I did add some the next day to my serving at lunch and it was delicious but the soup was just as tasty without it.  (and I didn't add the cornstarch - I was out - but the soup did thicken a bit without it and just with the cream.)