Shrimp and Sausage and Chicken Gumbo

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2 cups chopped green bell pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 pound cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups spicy tomato-vegetable juice cocktail (such as V8)
• 4 teaspoons Creole seasoning
• 1 pound uncooked shrimp – peeled, deveined, and tails removed
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Cook and stir flour in a large, heavy pot over medium-low heat until flour turns golden brown, about 15 minutes. Pour browned flour into a bowl and return pot to heat.

Increase heat to medium and add oil to the pot. Cook and stir onions and bell peppers in hot oil until slightly softened, about 7 minutes.

Stir garlic, thyme, and bay leaves into onion mixture; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add sausage to onion mixture and cook and stir until browned and crumbly, 5 to 10 minutes.

Stir diced tomatoes with juice, shredded chicken, chicken broth, vegetable juice cocktail, browned flour, and Creole seasoning into sausage mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer, stirring often, until mixture is hot and flavors blend, 20 to 30 minutes.

Pour shrimp into sausage-chicken mixture; bring to a simmer. Cook shrimp until they are pink on the outside and the meat is no longer transparent in the center, about 5 minutes.

Discard bay leaves. Season gumbo with salt and pepper to taste.