Andouille Cream Farfalle

For years I've tried to replicate a dish that I enjoyed at Applebees and that they no longer make. Just recently I finally stumbled upon the right combination to keep the sauce light and creamy, cream, huh, who woulda thought, obviously not me for years, but finally I have it and now I'd like to share. The original dish was made with blackened chicken, we prefer it with Andouille sausage but like it with grilled chicken breast too.

Andouille Cream Farfalle - 4 servings

1 ½ Smoked Andouille sausages, remove casing and slice into 1/4" rounds
2 c dried whole wheat Farfalle, cooked al dente, drained
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, fine dice
½ bell pepper, fine dice (we like yellow best)
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, fine dice
4 T unsalted butter
1/4 c heavy cream
Mark’s Essence
kosher salt

Saute onion, bell pepper, tomato and garlic in butter. When the veggies are soft and starting to caramelize a bit add the sausage and continue to stir and cook until the sausage is hot through. Add drained Farfalle and cream, stir until thoroughly mixed and continue cooking until hot. If needed add a little more cream or butter to keep the sauce loose. Add salt and essence to taste. When we can't get the rich cheesy smelling butter that comes from a local dairy here we use regular unsalted butter and add 1/2 c of grated Gruyere, either way it's one of our favorites.

Mark’s Essence - we call it this because it's similar to Emeril's but with my dh's own twist.

2 ½ T smoked paprika
2 T salt
2 T garlic powder
1 T black pepper
1 T onion powder
1 T cayenne pepper
3 T crushed red pepper
1 T oregano
1 T thyme

Combine in a spice grinder and grind until desired consistency, store in a shaker.