Creamy Gnocchi and Pork Soup

Fall has arrived with lower temperatures and our Washington rain. Today, I felt like making soup. Honestly, I feel like eating soup pretty much any day of the year. It's such a versatile dish that you can modify to suit your needs. Today, I made mine based on what showed up in my CSA box. This recipe is a hodgepodge of a couple different soup recipes, and I am super happy about how it turned out.

Creamy Gnocchi and Pork Soup
Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin, cut into 1" chunks
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced celery
1/4 cup diced carrots
2 tbs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbs flour
2 tbs white wine
1/2 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup half-n-half
17.6 oz. packaged gnocchi (I buy mine from Trader Joe's)
Toasted slivered almonds (garnish)
Sliced scallions (garnish)

1. Season your cut-up pork tenderloin with salt and pepper. In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, cook the pork tenderloin in 1 tbs of olive oil. Cook until no longer pink in the middle. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, warm 1 tbs. olive oil. Add the onion, celery and carrots. Cook for five minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the flour and stir around for one minute to remove the flour taste. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Stir. The wine will begin to evaporate and be absorbed into the flour and vegetable mixture.

3. As soon as the liquid has evaporated, add the chicken broth, pork, gnocchi and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil then turn the heat down to medium low. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add the milk and stir until combined. Remove from heat. Garnish with toasted almonds and scallions.