Creamy Cajun Pasta Sauce

For his birthday, I took Mr. Pots to his favorite restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory.  (Just kidding.  I was seven months pregnant and craving cheesecake, so that's why we went.)  Since I knew I really wanted cheesecake for dessert, I stayed a little boring for dinner and chose a salad.  (It was a good salad, though, promise!)  However, Mr. Pots believes in actually enjoying a restaurant if you're going to pay them to feed you, (go figure) so he actually ordered a real entree.  It was delicious.  

As is the case with most things we try and love, we wanted to recreate it at home, and promised each other we would someday.  

Then a week or so later, Mr. Pots was at the stove concocting something.  I always get a little worried and try not to look or smell or taste until whatever it is appears on the dinner table, because his cooking methods scare me to death!  The reason?  There is no method.  He usually just throws whatever sounds good into a dish and calls it dinner.

Well, when he served this up, I took one bite and couldn't even spare a moment to give him my first impression because I was too busy shoveling one bite after the other into my welcoming mouth.  Once my plate was empty and my sense of propriety completely wasted, I put down my fork and said, "that was really good, honey.  You know, it sort of tastes like that dish from Cheesecake Factory."  

It's not a copy cat recipe, so don't take it as such.  The biggest difference is the dish at Cheesecake Factory uses chicken and ours uses sausage, but you mustn't change back to chicken unless you brown the sausage, reserve the grease, use it to saute your veggies, then set aside the sausage for a different use and add in cooked chicken.  But that might be overkill for a family dinner.  Just sayin'.

Start by browning the sausage and sauteing your vegetables.  Stir in remaining spices.  (our sausage was precooked--don't make fun)

Make a thin gravy by sprinkling sausage and veggies with flour (and milk powder, if using) then adding milk (or water).

Allow it to thicken slightly.

Add diced tomatoes...

 and simmer for 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Melt in cream cheese.

Keep the heat low to prevent scorching.  Let mixture thoroughly combine.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Creamy Cajun Pasta Sauce

1/2 lb. uncooked sausage (choose your spice level--we used mild and added the heat later)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 small serranos, minced
1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk (or 1/2 cup milk powder + 3 cups water)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 lb. uncooked pasta OR 2 cups uncooked rice

optional:  stir in sliced button mushrooms and/or bell peppers with other vegetables.

Brown sausage.  Saute vegetables in sausage grease.  Season meat and veggies with spices.  Sprinkle with flour (and milk powder, if using).  Add milk (or water).  Allow to thicken slightly, then stir in tomatoes.  Simmer on low heat 15-20 minutes to allow flavors to combine and sauce to thicken.  Add more milk or water as needed.  Melt in cream cheese.  Cook pasta or rice.  Serve sauce over cooked pasta or rice.