Every Christmas and Thanksgiving, I’m left with a lot of leftover roasted turkey. Since the weather has turned gray and freezing, I have been really inspired to serve up some warm, flavorful soups to stave off the cold. My first turkey leftover soup is Turkey and Sausage Gumbo-Soup. I call it gumbo-soup because I don’t really make gumbo; I make a stew-like soup with all the usual gumbo flavor but without all those extra calories! (BTW, you can make it “real” gumbo, but why go to all the trouble??)

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo-Soup

Hardware: One very large, heavy pot (I used a dutch oven)

Olive oil

1 package sausage, cut into small pieces (I like a kielbasa-like smoked turkey sausage)

3 cloves garlic, minced (or more)

1 medium onion, diced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

4-6 cups of turkey stock*

1/2 to 1 cup of turkey meat*

8 ounces fresh or frozen okra

1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes

Brown sausage well with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of olive oil. (If using a high fat sausage, you can omit oil.  My turkey sausage was so low fat I needed to add oil to get it browning.) Remove sausage and add garlic, red pepper, and onion. Cook until tender, adding a bit of broth or water to de-glaze the pan when needed. Add in the rest of the ingredients, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over rice, if desired.

*I make turkey broth by plopping my leftover turkey bones/meat into a big pot and simmering for as long as I have (up to 2 or 3 hours sometimes, but tonight only about 30-45 minutes). I also leave all my aromatics in the turkey (you know, the onion, herbs, etc that you season the turkey with).