Pork and sausage gumbo

7
Points®
Total Time
1 hr 14 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
54 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Moderate
Gumbo, a Cajun soup-like dish, is often prepared with at least 1/4 cup oil. This is a terrific low-fat version, with all of the richness of the classic. Instead of making a roux by cooking equal amounts of flour and oil to a rich caramel hue, we toast the flour and cook it “dry” to lend the gumbo depth of flavor. If you're looking to cut down on prep time for the day-of, you can cut up the onion, bell pepper, and celery a day ahead and store in zip-close plastic bags in the refrigerator. The garlic, however, is best if minced just before being used.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour

3 Tbsp

Olive oil

1 Tbsp

Uncooked lean pork tenderloin

¾ pound(s), trimmed of all visible fat and cut into 1⁄2-inch chunks

Low-fat sausage

¼ pound(s), sweet Italian links, casings removed

Red onion

1 medium, chopped

Green bell pepper

1 medium, seeded and chopped

Celery

2 rib(s), medium, chopped

Garlic

3 clove(s), minced

Water

½ cup(s)

Canned diced tomatoes

14½ oz

Frozen okra

10 oz, package

Reduced sodium chicken broth

2 cup(s)

Dried thyme

1 tsp

Table salt

½ tsp

Black pepper

¼ tsp, freshly ground

Cayenne pepper

¼ tsp

Bay leaf

1 leaf/leaves

Cooked white rice

2 cup(s), hot

Instructions

  1. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the bottom of a large nonstick Dutch oven or heavy pot. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the flour is fragrant and begins to color, about 5 minutes. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes longer. Transfer the flour to a small bowl. Wipe the pot clean.
  2. Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and sausage and cook until very lightly browned, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and water to the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, until the vegetables are softened, 3–5 minutes.
  3. Return the browned flour to the pot and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the okra, broth, thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne, and bay leaf. Return the pork and sausage to the pot; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the pork is tender and the liquid thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
  4. Put a mound of the rice in the center of each soup bowl. Ladle the gumbo around the rice. Yields 11⁄2 cups gumbo with 1⁄2 cup rice per serving.