Spicy Italian soup w/ gnocchi

I have always enjoyed a good soup. I have recently experimented with gnocchi and thought I would use it in a soup. I started by browning 1 lb of spicy Italian sausage.

Once browned, I added 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 1 cup chopped onion, and 3 cloves of minced garlic. I sautéed that for about 10 minutes until the onion was translucent. I added almost 8 cups of chicken stock, a can of crushed tomatoes, a package of frozen spinach, 1 tsp fresh thyme, 1 tsp oregano, a shake or two of red pepper flakes, and plenty of pepper. I let that simmer for about 30 minutes to infuse all the flavors. I tasted it and ended up adding a little salt. Then I added the prepackaged gnocchi. I know, I know! Prepackaged when I could have spent hours making it from scratch? Maybe next time.

Once the gnocchi was cooked, I ladled it into a bowl and topped with shaved Parmesan.

It was more spicy than I had predicted and will omit the red pepper flakes if/when I make this again.

Now it is time to break down and play with making gnocchi from scratch. Stay tuned.....