Italian Sausage Soup with Parmesan Gnocchi

This soup is a full meal in a bowl which is perfect for a midweek dinner. I normally would serve bread with soup but the gnocchi in this is the carbohydrate, so it is filling enough. I don't know many people who eat gnocchi, maybe its not advertised well enough in the supermarkets in the UK, but making it is a breeze - I would tell you if it wasn't! Its just mashed potatoes made even more tasty and takes 10 minutes to roll, shape and cook.

The flavours of the sausages cooked in the soup with the fresh vegetables is delicious and the slightly chewy, light cheesy gnocchi along with the crunchy herby breadcrumbs bring a fantastic texture.

Ingredients:

350g pork chipolata sausages
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
500ml beef stock
1 (400g) tin chopped tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced
260g spinach, torn
1 large courgette, chopped
salt & pepper

For the gnocchi:

2 medium potatoes
3/4 cup plain flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp. parmesan, grated

handful toasted breadcrumbs
chopped fresh sage & parsley (optional)
 
Method:

Fry the sausages in a large saucepan until browned. Remove from the pan and cut into bite size pieces and put back in the pan with the garlic for 2 minutes. Then add the stock, tomatoes and carrots. Bring to the boil and the turn to a simmer. Cover and leave to cook on a low heat for 15 minutes.

Then add the courgettes and spinach along with 1 tsp. pepper and 1 tsp. salt and leave to simmer for a further 25 minutes.

While the soup is cooking, have the potatoes boiling. Then mash the potatoes well. You don't want any lumps as it notices more in gnocchi! Put the mashed potatoes into a bowl with the flour and egg. Knead briefly to make a dough, adding more flour if too wet. Half the dough at this stage, you only need half of this amount, so pop the other half into a freezer bag for a later recipe.

Knead the dough on a floured board and half again. Make two sausages about 1 inch diameter and then cut into inch lengths. Push the tines of a fork into the top to make a pattern.

Boil a pan of water and add half of the gnocchi. It is cooked when it rises to the top of the water. Remove with a slotted spoon and place onto greased kitchen foil. Do the same with the remainder. Then sprinkle the parmesan over the top and pop under the grill, to give the gnocchi a very light cheesy crust. This will give a good texture to the soup.

Briefly fry the chopped sage, parsley and breadcrumbs. Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve the soup in a large bowl and add the gnocchi. Top with the toasted herby breadcrumbs and enjoy.