Italian Sausage and Gnocchi Soup

If you are into eating healthy, it's best you saddle up and ride on out right now. There is not much healthy in this recipe. You would correctly point out that the tomatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms are indeed healthy. But they are offset by a killer's row of scrumptious but no so healthy compatriots: hot Italian sausage, potato gnocchi, heavy cream, butter and flour. But I will make no apologies to you for the fact that you will feel like Jaba the Hut after you consume this meal. What I am presenting to you today is simply the most delicious soup I have ever tasted in my 66 years of traveling around the sun. Period. Fini.

To hit this high standard, I must offer several caveats. First, it must be HOT Italian sausage. If it's sweet or mild, you will not be leaving the starting gate. Only potato gnocchi will do. And it must be heavy cream. Don't even think about using Half & Half, lest you desire to spend the rest of your days burning in the skillet of Hades. And you must serve this with a fresh, crusty loaf of French bread. The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.


Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
8-ounces sliced button mushrooms
4 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried Turkish oregano
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fennel seed
2-1/2 cups chicken broth
2 cups heavy cream
1, 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1 pound potato gnocchi

1 loaf French bread (for dipping in the soup!)


Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add sausage, onions, mushrooms and seasonings. Cook, breaking up the sausage as you go, until onion is translucent and sausage is fully cooked.
2. Add broth, heavy cream and tomatoes. Let simmer while you prepare roux.
3. In a separate small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in flour and stir constantly until mixture is bubbly and a thick paste forms.
4. Stir the roux into the soup and bring to a low boil, stirring regularly. The soup will thicken within 1-2 minutes.
5. Add gnocchi. Simmer soup for 5 minutes and serve in individual bowls.

Wine pairing: Brunello di Montalcino

Grogs and Goldie, 1956