Merry Me Chicken and Gnocchi Soup -or- Sundried Tomato Gnocchi Soup with Chicken

My boys love my sundried tomato gnocchi recipe (which you can put chicken in or not) and so when I saw this soup with a lot of similar elements, I just had to try it. Everyone really liked it, and just like my pasta recipe, you can do it with or without chicken.

Merry Me Chicken and Gnocchi Soup -or- Sundried Tomato Gnocchi Soup with Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbl butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Kinder's Buttery Garlic and Herb Seasoning
• 1 tsp Herbs De Provence or Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped and drained
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 big spoonful of minced garlic
• 1 Tbl chicken bouillon + 4 cups of water (or 4 cups of chicken broth)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb Gnocchi
• 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Season with salt, pepper, Kinder’s Buttery Garlic & Herb, and herbs de Provence. Cook 5 minutes.
2. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes. Make a well, add tomato paste, and cook 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
3. Stir in chicken bouillon, water, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil.
4. Add gnocchi and chicken. Boil uncovered for 3–4 minutes until gnocchi float.
5. Turn off heat. Stir in cream cheese until melted. Add Parmesan.
6. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes to thicken up.

Marsha's Notes:

When I made this, I wanted to make a big pot, so I doubled most of the recipe. I used an entire stick of butter, the entire jar of sundried tomatoes (chopped extra because the pieces in the jar where bigger than we like) with the oil drained off, 5 cups of water, the entire carton of heavy cream (1 pint), and entire 5 oz. container of shredded parmesan cheese, and two packages of gnocchi, along with everything else listed in the recipe basically as is. The seasonings I just did to taste to make up for the bigger pot. If I wasn't going to try to stretch the pot into a bigger portion, I would make the soup exactly as listed in the ingredients.