Chicken and gnocchi soup with mushrooms

Its soup time! I have always loved soups, especially a good bowl of creamy, not-so-good-for-you-because-its-too-fattening soup. I wanted to try my hand at making a gnocchi soup and at the same time wanted to get rid of a can of cream of chicken soup I had bought a few months ago (yes, I did check the expiration date!). Whats better than a creamy bowl of goodness this time of year? Nothing, I tell you!

I used shelf-stabilized gnocchi. I know this violates my no-preservatives rule but do you really want to peel, cook, mash and form gnocchi for this recipe? I didn't think so. I did it once and I'm not about to do it again anytime soon. Its worth taking shortcuts, especially once in a while, and if you want to avoid the preservatives, just get frozen gnocchi. Also, I made my own chicken stock so that counts for some bonus points doesn't it?

Here's how I made the soup:

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped (optional)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
10 cups of chicken stock
2 cups cooked chicken meat
1 cream of chicken soup can
500 gms shelf-stablilized gnocchi (1 package)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram (use up that spice rack!)
salt and pepper (to taste)
parmesan cheese (to taste)
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Method:

Heat a deep pot over medium low. Add butter and olive oil. When butter starts melting, add onion, garlic, celery and carrot (if using). Saute until onion is translucent. We do not want to brown the onion and garlic. Add mushrooms and saute until they start releasing their liquid. Now add chicken stock and cooked chicken. Cover and bring to a simmer. Dissolve cream of chicken soup with some of the hot chicken stock and whisk until smooth. Transfer to the rest of the soup and add thyme and marjoram. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes to let the flavors meld. Add gnocchi to the soup and cook for an additional 5 minutes. The gnocchi will float to the top when it is cooked. Add some cornstarch diluted in a little water if you want the soup to be thicker. Turn off stove. Add parmesan cheese and garnish with some chopped parsley.