Gnocchi Pecorino Chicken Soup

 There were a lot of places I hated going as a kid.

Chasing my dad through the isles of Home Depot was always a terrible day. If we were at the Home Depot that meant something was broken at home and dad was probably pissed off. When dad was mad he would walk fast and I would almost have to run to keep up after him; yes, this was my introduction to running. It’s amazing I grew to love the sport from this kind of beginning.

Our local Home Depot is located in the valley six thousand feet below our mountain home. When we went to Home Depot it was always hot in that desert town. Sometimes our truck had air conditioning in the summer, usually it did not.
One thing I hated more than going to Home Depot was helping dad cut wood. I guess I should be lucky that there was no sexism in our house hold and dad expected me to help unload the wood with my two brothers but I absolutely hated and still hate to this day the sound of a chainsaw.
In my trifecta of horrible chores growing up I absolutely could not stand helping to take the trash to the dump.
Obviously this was the most smelly chore and our old trash mobile, La Bamba was way past its 1950s glory days and had a carpenter ant nest in-bedded in it. Driving in smelly old La Bamba was horrible. (and once again dad was always in a bad mood when we went to the dump because the line was always so long to get into the dump.  We always had to wait forever) it seems like we always went to the dump in the summer and it was hot, smelly and just all around gross, not to mention not fun at all to unload the stinky trash at the dump.
Fast forward to today and I am an adult who still hates chainsaws, the dump and Home Depot. ( mainly Home Depot as that store is so huge that I can never find what I want quickly.)
I have trash pick up now and have not had to go to the dump for years.
Until today.
As I pulled up to the transfer station and waved my brand new dump card that I have never used, I noticed a curious sign;
Children must stay in car!!!
Okay, I am pretty sure they put that sign up because of my family!
Some things have changed for sure since the eighties!After my adventures at the dump I went home and whipped up this extremely delicious soup.
It’s perfect for a winter’s night.

1 package gnocchi

2 tab olive oil

1/2 an onion, chopped

2 pieces celery, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

5 cloves roasted garlic

1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup dry white wine

3/4 cups cream

3/4 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese

In the olive oil cook the onions for five minutes. Add the celery and carrots. Cook two minutes, add the garlic and remove from heat. Let cool slightly and blend this mixture in a blender.

In the original pan heat the pancetta. Add a splash of dry white wine to deglaze the pan.

 Add the stock and water.

Let the soup reduce for an hour. Add the gnocchi and the grated cheese. Let cook fifteen minutes.

Add the cream. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.