Every holiday, people rave about this Italian Easter pie. It’s loaded with ham, cured meats, and ricotta to create a cheesy, meaty pie that is incredibly filling!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 3 hrs 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 3 hrs 20 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 12 cups water
- 3 pounds chicken parts
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 ½ pounds okra
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
- 1 (28 ounce) can Italian-style whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon file powder
Instructions
- Combine water and chicken in large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender, about 1 hour. Using tongs, transfer chicken to strainer and cool, saving cooking liquid. Remove meat from bones in pieces.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add okra and cook until no longer sticky, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes; set aside.
- Stir flour and remaining 1/2 cup oil in heavy large Dutch oven. Cook over medium heat until deep golden brown, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Add 4 cups reserved chicken cooking broth, okra, andouille sausage, tomatoes with their juices, bell pepper, celery, garlic, bay leaf, salt, thyme, basil, cayenne, and pepper. Cover partially and simmer until thickened, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Spoon off any fat from surface of gumbo. Add chicken and file powder to gumbo and simmer gently 15 minutes. (If preparing ahead, cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.) Mound rice in shallow bowls if desired. Ladle gumbo over and serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 782 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 157 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 40 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 1419 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 61 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great recipe with a few minor changes; I double the roux ingredients (flour & oil) and store half in the refrigerator to make the next batch of gumbo in a snap. Be patient when making the roux; I found a YouTube video and they said “don’t be in a hurry, don’t leave the roux unattended, and don’t be afraid”. It takes about 10 minutes for the roux to become a nice color. I also sauté the celery and bell pepper with 1/2 of an onion (nicknamed ‘holy trinity’) in a splash of olive oil before adding the rest of the ingredients. In a hurry, I use canned chicken and make a broth with bouillon powder/cubes. I also use diced tomatoes instead of whole because it’s what I always have on hand. I sauté a bag of frozen okra, but I have also boiled it – haven’t noticed much difference; the okra sort of fades into the other ingredients, so either way works. I’ve never used the file powder. My husband was raised in Louisiana and said this is the best gumbo he’s ever eaten – better than what his family makes (shhh). I have made this variation many times and it’s even better the next day.
We just love this recipe and have used it for many years. We usually add the cayenne in the bowls since some of us don’t like it too spicy
The only thing I did differently is to boil the chicken for about 1/2 hour, let it cool while I was getting everything else together, and add it in with the other ingredients. Less time, less steps, and stiff tasted great. Plus, I had already made a batch of Cajun spice, which is pretty much a combination of the spices mentioned in the recipe, and I put 6 TBS of that in rather than the other spices. I DID include the bay leaf, though. GREAT recipe!
The family liked it and said they will eat it again. They even got seconds! I thought it was really good but felt the tomato overpowered it. Next time I will either put less tomato or omit it altogether.
My family and I liked it, I did tweek the recipe. We like spicey food. I added some habanero peppers. we also used cheesy bread balls i. had small rice bowls.
My husband and oldest son (requesting party 😉 ) loved it. I cut the cayenne in half for our younger ones- hubby said it’s not too hot, but very flavorful. He was so happy to have gumbo. I have to say, I’m not a fan. But I do love to make something my men are excited to come home for!!!! Thank you for this recipe. 🙂
I also made this with some changes, and it turned out soooo delish! I used chicken bone broth instead of water. I used chopped, fire roasted tomatoes, and I added a whole medium-sized chopped onion. Also, instead of the chicken, I used half of a grilled pork tenderloin that we had leftover, it really added a nice smoky flavor to the gumbo! I spent more like 25 minutes on my roux, and used real butter instead of oil. I did not add the salt that the recipe called for, as it seemed to be salty enough when I tasted it during the cooking process. File powder is a MUST (but it’s really expensive here!). And I used frozen okra instead of fresh (hard to find right now as it’s out of season). But WOW!! This really turned out spectacular! Just served over a scoop of plain white steamed rice. Great for this rainy, chilly evening!
I had a bunch of chicken already cooked, so I skipped the first part of cooking the chicken. I used half chicken stock and half homemade shrimp stock. Instead of making the roux with vegetable oil, I used butter. Added some extra cayenne just because we like spice. Everyone loved it!
Delicious and easy to make
Such a great recipe I love this gumbo!
awesome stuff!
I loved this recipe. I use left over baked chicken for the meat. Once the roux is made it is very simple.
While I have enjoyed gumbo before I had never made it. Too much turkey and sausage left over from Thanksgiving took me to the stove. I liked this recipe. I did know enough about gumbo to add 2 onions. I did use frozen okra and stirred it for the 20 minutes and was happy with the results. The next time I make this I will add the cayenne after I know how spicy my sausage is. Same with the salt. The recipe made a nice sized pot; enough to give away two quarts, then to freeze some.
Thank
great recipe, notes from others as to cooking the Okra separately a big positive!
This was soo good. I made a couple adjustments after reading the comments but my husband and I could not stop eating it. Firstly I just used chicken stock that I already had to cut down on cooking time and used diced tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. I also added half of a diced yellow onion, about 1.5 teaspoons of cajun seasoning, and a dash of Worchestershire. I boiled the okra before adding it to the dish and there was no sliminess that some other commenters are mentioning. I served it with brown rice and biscuits on the side. 4 servings made for two BIG dinners (for 2 people) with enough for a leftover lunch. Will definitely be making this again!!
Used boiled chicken breasts and 1/2 of reserved stock with fat skimmed off and 32 oz low sodium chicken broth. I added some good cleaned raw gulf shrimp and some Old Bay seasoning. Work your roux low and slow in a good cast iron dutch oven until the color of a Hershey bar. I boil my frozen okra for 10 minutes and rinse w/ cold water to cut back on the slime factor. 1.5 lbs okra is a little heavy for my taste. I love this stuff over rice w/ some fresh chopped parsley and a side of cornbread.
I had never made gumbo before, but I have eaten it and like it. This is a good recipe. I followed it as written, except I used just over 2 pounds of chicken and almost a pound of shrimp along with the Andouille sausage. I cooked my rice in the remaining chicken water for added flavor. I made cornbread muffins to go along with it. A great meal for a chilly day!
It is a really good recipe. Having said that, I would never think of making gumbo without onions. Regarding the okra, use frozen not fresh, cook the gumbo a long time, like 3-4 hours on simmer, put a lid on it and let it stand overnight. When you reheat it the next day the okra will have practically melted into the stew. Gumbo is like chili. It’s better the next day.
I haven’t made gumbo in years and needed a reminder of what went in it. This was excellent and I will be using it again. What I do differently is flouring my chicken pieces and frying them till they are golden brown. Take the chicken out and place on a plate in the oven to keep warm. Then I add the flour into the pot for the rouge stirring until it is the color of a copper penny. Then I add the onions and cook until soft. Add chicken broth (I used 2 cans), spices, sausage, chicken and rest of veggies. Finish cooking as above.
I followed it exactly except there was no fresh okra to be had. It came out gummy . I’m going to add a good amount of chicken stock to the leftovers. Could use onion next time . Maybe leave the file powder out … that might have made it too gummy if not the frozen okra.