Ingredients
1lbground hot Italian sausage,browned, or any other sausage such as chicken, pork, beef or turkey
1onion,peeled, diced
2carrots,peeled, diced
2celery sticks,diced
5garlic cloves,or 1½ tbsp minced garlic
4cupschicken broth,good quality
2tspItalian seasoning
2tspvegetable stock powder,such as Vegeta, or chicken or beef bouillon powder
1tsponion powder
1tspgarlic powder
¾tspsalt,adjust to your taste
⅓tspblack pepper,cracked, adjust to your taste
2⅓cupsevaporated milk,or half and half, or reduced-fat cream
3tbspcornstarch,heaping, dissolved in milk
2cupemilk,2% milk
1lbgnocchi,fresh 500g
4cupskale leaves,shredded, stems removed, or baby spinach leaves
salt and pepper,additional, to taste
Parmesan cheese,optional topping, freshly grated
crispy bacon,optional topping
Preparation
Place the browned sausage, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, broth, Italian seasoning, Vegeta (or bouillon), onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a crockpot or slow cooker. Cover and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours or Low for 6 to 8 hours.
Add the evaporated milk, milk and cornstarch mixture, and gnocchi. Stir and replace the cover. Cook for another 30 minutes until the soup has thickened and the gnocchi has softened.
Add in the chopped kale or spinach. Cover for an extra 5 minutes or until just beginning to wilt.
Taste test and season with extra salt and pepper, if desired. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese and bacon if desired.
