Seafood and Sausage Gumbo

We love making this gumbo.  It's super tasty, fun to make, freezes well (that is if you have leftovers!), and has become one of our favorite recipes.  We've adapted this from a recipe my husband found on cooks.com many years ago. We followed it exactly at first, then started changing mainly the meat quantities and types to suit our tastes.  The original recipe called for crab meat, but it seemed to dissolve into the gumbo and omitting it didn't skimp on flavor (but did cut down on the cost!).  We've also used water as the recipe calls for, or made and used shrimp stock.  Going with the water works just fine for us so it how we typically make it.  Doubling this recipe works great too! When we can't find fresh okra, using frozen okra works just fine too. 

Seafood and Sausage Gumbo

Ingredients:

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil

1 c. chopped onion (we use sweet or Vidalia)

1 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped green bell pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 gallon warm water or vegetable or seafood stock

2 c. sliced okra 

8 oz. tomato sauce (1 small can)

1 Tbsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 lbs shrimp

1 lb andouille sausage, sliced

4 c. cooked rice

Small bunch scallions

All the photos below were of us making the gumbo, doubling the recipe.  

Browning the sausage

I prepped while Zac made the roux

 

oil and flour

Zac patiently stirring the roux

cooking the veggies

with water, okra, and tomato sauce

Almost ready for the meats and seasonings

sausage, seasonings, and shrimp ready to go

last round of simmering, rice out of the rice cooker

all done! Best served with crusty bread

Directions:

Combine flour and oil in a large heavy bottom stock/soup pot, over medium heat, stirring constantly until roux is dark, about the color of a copper penny, 10-15 minutes.  Add onion, celery, garlic, and green bell peppers to roux. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add warm water (or stock), blending well after each addition. Add okra and tomato sauce. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally (approx every 20-30 minutes). 

While gumbo is simmering, cook the sliced andouille sausage in a pan over medium heat to brown.  Drain off fat and pat dry. 

Stir salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, andouille sausage, and shrimp into gumbo. Bring gumbo back to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until shrimp are cooked. Remove from heat. Serve in a bowl over rice with chopped scallions on top.