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Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto

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Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

 
If I had an Italian grandmother, I am sure this is the chicken soup she would make for my seven brothers and sisters and me. Okay, I don’t actually have seven siblings. In fact, I’m an only child. However, I always imagine Italian meals as large family affairs, so I have to conjure up some additional characters to set the scene. My pleasantly plump nonna would be standing by the stove, ladling out the steaming soup into large earthenware bowls, exclaiming “Mangia, mangia!” (Incidentally, “Nonna” is what my kids call my mum. We obviously have a deep-seated yearning for some Italian blood in our veins. And yet, nary a drop.)

When I spotted this recipe by Tasty Kitchen member Melanie, I knew it was likely to become a family favorite. The broth is rich with the taste of roasted onions and garlic, pesto and chicken broth pureed together (be sure to read about my broth mishap below and learn from my mistake so you can avoid green-colored blinds and carpet). The gnocchi is gently boiled in the broth until tender and plump and the savory mixture is ladled over simply roasted, shredded chicken. It is comfort in a bowl. I swear I can feel my fictitious nonna’s hug as I take each bite.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to get started. Roasting chicken breasts can sound intimidating, but it’s one of the easiest things to do. Stay with me here.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Place the chicken breasts—skin, bones and all—into a roasting pan. Separate the onion quarters and scatter the pieces, along with the unpeeled garlic cloves, over and around the chicken breasts.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Drizzle over some olive oil. I promise it’s not going to get any harder than this.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Season with salt and pepper and slide those babies into the oven. You’re well on your way.

Roast the chicken for 35 to 45 minutes, or until it is cooked through.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Transfer the chicken breasts to a cutting board to cool. Remove the onion and garlic and peel the garlic. The cloves will be soft and buttery.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

In the bowl of a food processor or a blender, combine the chicken broth, roasted onion pieces and peeled, roasted garlic. Add 3 tablespoons of pesto and pulse until smooth.

Now, let me give you a little tip here to save you some cleanup time. Do not—I repeat, DO NOT—try to do this all in one batch. I was feeling a little over-confident in my blender’s ability to hold mass quantities of liquid. Since I take all of my food photos in the living room (for the best light), that is where the blending took place. That is also where the combination of chicken broth, pesto, onions and garlic blew out the side of the blender lid and all over my carpet, blinds and furniture. It’s a good thing my kids weren’t home at the time or they would have learned some unsavory words to add to their vocabularies. Moral of the story: puree the mixture in two batches—in the kitchen!

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it into bite-sized pieces, removing and discarding the skin and bones. I like to use my hands to do this, but two forks would work well, too.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Transfer the chicken to a bowl and stir in the rest of the pesto until the chicken is coated.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Transfer the chicken broth mixture to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the gnocchi and cook until the little guys pop up to the surface.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Place some of the chicken in each bowl and ladle over the broth and gnocchi.

 
 
 
Tasty Kitchen Blog: Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto. Guest post by Dara Michalski of Cookin' Canuck, recipe submitted by TK member Melanie of The Coupon Goddess.

Garnish with chopped Roma tomatoes and serve. “Mangia, mangia!”

Thank you, Melanie, for sharing your incredible recipe. Melanie’s site The Coupon Goddess is not only filled with tips on saving money at the grocery store, but has loads of mouthwatering recipes. Be sure to check it out.

 
 

Printable Recipe

Zuppa di Gnocchi e Pesto

See post on A Beautiful Bite’s site!
4.60 Mitt(s) 5 Rating(s)5 votes, average: 4.60 out of 55 votes, average: 4.60 out of 55 votes, average: 4.60 out of 55 votes, average: 4.60 out of 55 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5

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Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 8

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Description

A quick and delicious soup made from pantry and freezer staples that will have your guests thinking that your Nonna passed the recipe down to you!

Ingredients

  • 3  Chicken Breasts, On The Bone
  • 1 whole Yellow Onion, Quartered
  • 8 cloves Garlic, In Skins
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 3 pinches Salt
  • 3 pinches Black Pepper
  • 2 cartons Chicken Broth, 32 Ounces Each
  • 1 jar Pesto 8oz
  • 1 package Gnocchi, 16 Ounce
  • 3 whole Roma Tomatoes Seeded And Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken breasts in a roasting pan. Break apart quartered onion and scatter around and on top of breasts. Toss garlic, skins and all, around the chicken. The garlic will not flavor the chicken at this point. We are merely roasting them and will add them to the broth in a bit. Drizzle olive oil on chicken. Salt and pepper to taste and roast for 35-45 minutes or until the center is white and no longer pink.

Once cooked, allow the chicken to cool so that it can be shredded by hand. Scoop out roasted onion and garlic to use in broth. While the chicken is cooling, pour broth into a Cuisinart or blender along with the onions and roasted garlic (skins removed after roasting of course) and three tablespoons of the pesto. Pulse until there are no large chunks of garlic left. About 3 five second pulses should do the trick. The roasted garlic will give the soup a velvety feel in your mouth. Definitely don’t skip this step. It’s so worth it.

Back to the chicken. After shredding it, mix in the rest of the pesto. Stir well and set aside.

In a large pot, bring the broth/garlic/pesto mixture to a boil. Add gnocchi and cook until they float. In soup bowls, place a pile of chicken in the center. Ladle the hot broth over the chicken and garnish with chopped tomatoes. Mangia bene (eat well)!

 
 
_______________________________________

Dara Michalski is a doll and a sweetheart who clearly knows her way around the kitchen. She blogs at Cookin’ Canuck, where she shares her flavor-packed recipes and fun, engaging writing. The photography’s pretty incredible, too.

 

22 Comments

Comments are closed for this recipe.

Becky E on 11.14.2011

I made this over the weekend and it was huge hit. Everyone loved this soup!!

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FarmGirl on 11.13.2011

What a great, yummy soup!! I made this soup with homemade chicken stock. Also used onions and garlic from the garden as well as the basil to make the pesto. I will have to try it again and make my own gnocchi (never done that before).
The only thing I did different was added some cornstarch this thicken it up a bit. That way the broth would cling to the chicken and gnocchi more. This is a great soup to have in the middle of a cold Iowa winter. Thanks for sharing.

Myrna on 11.10.2011

I made this that night! I had frozen pesto that I had made and froze last month. I stopped and bought a fresh rotisserie chicken and gnocchi and had this made in minutes! It was a big hit! Yummm.

Natalie B on 11.10.2011

I made this last night for my family. I noticed Melanie suggested adding ravioli in lieu of the gnocchi. I had a few picky eaters that don’t like gnocchi, so I used spinach ravioli from Trader Joe’s. This was delicious! It was relatively quick to make for such a great return. Great Recipe! Thanks Melanie and Dara! :)

Kathy on 11.10.2011

I made this last night for my family along with some cheddar/garlic/chive biscuits. A good salad and we were set. This was soooo good. My whole family of men loved it. The only change I made was I added the chicken and all the pesto to the pot rather than add it to individual bowls. Much easier. We also didn’t use the tomatoes ( I forgot to cut them up) It is a do again. The broth was so good. Who da thunk so few and simple ingredients would produce such a rich and yummy broth/soup. Although I can and do make my own Gnocchi and pesto I used store bought. I was feeling tired and lazy and this worked right into that mood. Plus it tasted anything but tired and lazy. Loved it.

Mario on 11.10.2011

What a peculiar recipe. I am Italian, but I have never ever eaten a “zuppa” like it. Won’t like it, even if I adore gnocchi and pesto.

Toni S on 11.9.2011

All I can say, is YUM!! Made this tonight, and loved it. I did add a cup of minute rice, but I followed it otherwise. Very flavorful. Even my picky eater (age 6) finished it off without fighting!

Maria T on 11.9.2011

This was wonderful. I added frozen spinach to up the nutrition factor and it was Great!

cat mom on 11.9.2011

You mean you don’t make your own gnocchi??? It’s so easy!! Couple of boiled potatos, squeeze them through a ricer or mash them, let them cool. When cool, add one beaten egg, a dash of salt,and a cup of fine flour, (keep more in reserve in case the dough is too wet. )Knead this together until it makes a malleable dough. Divide the dough into four portions, and roll each into a long rope about a half inch thick. Cut into 1″ pieces. Now you can roll them off a fork to make a nice dumpling with a cavity, but I’m a lazy cook so I just give each bit a poke with a knuckle to make a dimple. These will cook in any liquid, broth, boiling water or soup, and when they float to the top they are DONE. Easy peasy. And better than anything in a package from the store.

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Jane on 11.9.2011

OMGoodness Mangia!!! I made this yesterday, 11/8/11 and the family loved it! I recently joined TaseyKitchen, and I must confess that I don’t like to cook, but I am trying to learn new things and get inspired. This recipe did that for me! I really had fun and enjoyed myself! Even put on the dusty apron! Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!

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Lauren's Latest on 11.8.2011

This sounds so darn good! I’m in love. That gnocchi is throwing this over the top for me.

Sprigs of Rosemary on 11.8.2011

I’ve never thought of gnocchi in sop either. I was sold from the get-go, though. Dara’s step-by-step makes it look easy, too,; I’m sure Melanie’s recipe is great as well. What a pairing!

Adriana C on 11.8.2011

Oh wow! The other day found a recipe here for sweet potato gnocchi…that would be a wonderful substitution/addition to this!!

Marlina on 11.7.2011

Oh my… I’m drooling. I’ll have to try this soon!

Lu on 11.7.2011

Who can resist tender chicken in a flavorful broth? Me thinks no one. :)

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Katrina on 11.7.2011

This is a lovely recipe! So tasty sounding.

melanie feehan on 11.7.2011

Thanks so much for featuring my recipe! I’m flattered!!

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cookincanuck on 11.7.2011

Thanks for everyone’s comments. This was a hit with my family and, like any good hearty soup recipe, it was even better the second day. Thanks again to Melanie for a wonderful recipe!

liz on 11.7.2011

Hmm, sounds wonderful and I have some chicken thighs in the freezer that need to be used. Hadn’t thought of roasting them. Some of the local stores have different flavors of gnocchi, so maybe the mushroom gnocchi would work well with the dark thigh meat.Off to the store.

Allyn on 11.7.2011

Oh man, I seriously need to make this ASAP.
So freakin easy and tasty looking!

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Laurie - Simply Scratch on 11.7.2011

Oh gosh… this looks heavenly! Pesto, gnocchi and in soup!? Must make this soup asap!

Heather (Heather's Dish) on 11.7.2011

mangia mangia indeed! i love gnocchi but would you believe i’ve never had it in a soup? i’m thinking this needs to change. like, immediately.