This okra and fresh summer tomatoes is the best. Do ya’ll like okra & tomatoes? I love it! Canned tomatoes are most used but I had fresh summer tomatoes I needed to use and they worked so well. I didn’t peel them, just diced them and tossed them in and cooked them until broken up and a sauce formed.
Okra, bacon, onions, jalapeno, garlic, tomatoes are some of the ingredients. How can you go wrong? Some don’t like okra because of the slime. I’m one of those folks. To get rid of the slime in this recipe, I fry the okra first. Yes. I fry the okra until a little crisp. I then remove it from the pan and set aside. Then I make the stewed tomatoes, adding the okra back in at the every end.
best okra and fresh summer tomatoes.
I cooked this in a cast iron skillet. I love my cast iron skillets. If you don’t have one already, they are well worth the purchase! Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/3fzVAvk
Want another recipe with okra? https://the2spoons.com/shrimp-okra-andouille-smoked-sausage-gumbo/
This is a delicious dish using okra! And, southern fried okra is always in our home during okra season: https://the2spoons.com/southern-fried-okra-with-creamy-buttermilk-dip/
Here’s the new recipe! Enjoy!
Okra and Fresh Summer Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups trimmed fresh okra cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 slices bacon, shopped
- 1 tbsp reserved bacon fat
- 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeno stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3-4 cups diced fresh tomatoes
- pinch of sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- red pepper flakes (optional)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the okra and sauté for 5 to 8 minutes until the okra starts to slightly brown and most of the 'slime' has disappeared. Set aside.
- In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. Remove all but a tablespoon or so of the bacon fat. Add the onion, jalapeno, and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and vinegar.
- Cook for 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down and start forming something like a paste.
- Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes longer over low heat.
- Stir the okra into the tomato sauce, raise the heat to medium, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Taste, and adjust seasonings, as needed. Remove bay leaves and serve at once.
- Add the crumbled bacon to the top.