Sausage Spinach & Gnocchi Soup

 I made this recipe for the first time last night after finding it online.  I slimmed it down a bit by replacing half of the heavy cream recommended with unsweetened almondmilk creamer, which I find gives soups and whatnot a really nice nutty taste.  I also changed up the recipe a bit to put in the spinach sooner and then use a hand blender to chop up the spinach and onions, because I don’t like the texture of cooked spinach but I do like the taste very much.  I’ll note in the instructions when I did this and how that differs from the original.  Anyway, the end result was delicious and filling and full of protein, for not a ridiculous amount of calories.  I also added a bit more tomato paste and red pepper than the recipe called for because…Spice.  Nuff said.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• ▢ 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less to taste (definitely MORE!)
• ▢ 3 tablespoons tomato paste (I added a bit more after tasting it)
• 3/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 3 TB flour
• 2/3 cup dry white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Sauv Blanc
• 5 c chicken stock, low sodium
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk creamer (can use NutPods blend or other if this is hard to find)
• 1 lb potato gnocchi
• 3c baby spinach
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• Salt, to taste
• ▢ 

Instructions: 

• Add the Italian sausage to a Dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-low heat. Cook, breaking the sausage into crumbles as it browns, until completely cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Remove the excess grease from the pot, leaving about 1 tablespoon behind.
• Add the diced onion to the reserved sausage drippings and cook for about

  

  
  5 minutes, until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, just until fragrant
• Stir in the Italian seasoning, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Add the tomato paste and stir until evenly incorporated, then add the drained, chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for another 1–2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomato paste deepens slightly in color.
  
• Sprinkle the flour evenly over the onion and tomato mixture. Stir continuously for about 1 minute, until the flour is completely incorporated and no dry streaks remain.
• 
  Slowly pour in the white wine while whisking or stirring continuously, scraping up any flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook for 2–3 minutes, allowing the wine to reduce slightly and its sharp alcohol aroma to mellow.
  
• Gradually pour in the chicken stock while stirring.  This is the point at which I added the spinach, wilted it in the liquid for a few minutes, and then used an immersion blender to chop the vegetables finely.  You can choose to add the spinach at the end, as the original recipe suggests.
  Add the heavy cream & almondmilk creamer. Return the cooked sausage to the pot and stir to combine.
  
• Bring the soup to a boil, then add the gnocchi. Cook for about 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the gnocchi from sticking to the bottom overcooking, which can make the gnocchi gummy.
  
• Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. (If you haven’t already done this earlier, add the baby spinach and stir just until wilted.) 
  Add the freshly grated Parmesan and serve.
  Nutritional Information (serves 6):601 calories, 39.2 g carbs, 30 g protein, 34.7 g fat