Chicken Gnocchi Soup

I've gotta say that new this recipe I made tonight will be going into our rotating menu for dinners in our house. Thank you, yet again, to my favorite recipe site Allrecipes.com. It says it serves 6, so that means in our house I had to double it. Pair it will some french bread and YUMMY!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, shredded
1 pound cooked, cubed chicken breast
4 cups chicken broth
1 (16 ounce) package mini potato gnocchi
1 (6 ounce) bag baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
2 tablespoons cold water (optional)
2 cups half-and-half cream
salt and ground black pepper to taste
Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, garlic, and carrots in the hot oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in cubed chicken and chicken broth; bring to a simmer.
Stir gnocchi into the simmering soup and cook until they begin to float, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in spinach; cook until wilted, about 3 additional minutes.
Whisk cornstarch into cold water until smooth. Stir cornstarch mixture and half-and-half into simmering soup. Cook until soup thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.