Don’t you hate it when this happens? You are feeling inspired and confident and since you have some ingredients on hand, you decide to whip up a one-dish meal that’ll be so good, you know you’re gonna be bad and eat many dishes of it — in one sitting.

This happened to me last Saturday. I had a ton of spinach and baby portabella mushrooms that had to be used. I thought, in a Homer Simpson voice, “Mmmm, creamy pasta.” It was lunch time, and we usually make sandwiches for lunch on Saturdays. This would be a special treat. We’d even have wine. So I got to cooking.

I began by sauteeing onions, garlic, smoked chicken sausage and sliced mushrooms while I boiled water for the orzo. Then I wilted the spinach, set everything aside and started the sauce. (At this point, I put Andrew in charge of the orzo. He has an uncanny ability to cook pasta perfectly. I, on the other hand, do not. It’s always just overdone or just underdone.)  I made a basic cream sauce with chicken broth, white wine, half and half and skim milk.

I know right? What was I thinking?! Skim milk? I wasn’t, obviously, but I didn’t have whole milk or heavy cream, so this would have to do. I added asiago cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Asiago was also a questionable choice, too because its flavor is so much smoother than other aged cheeses. I think that for this meal, in which the other ingredients were so mild, a stronger-flavored cheese would have helped out some. What I ended up with was a very pretty dish that kind of lacked in flavor and creaminess. The orzo was, of course, the perfect texture and the best part.

I think that if I hadn’t been so hungry by the time I was finished cooking, I could have helped the meal along by throwing it into a casserole dish, stirring in some more cheese (maybe even with some of the eleven thousand slices of Tillamook cheddar I’ve been cursed to endure after a recent trip to Costco) and topping it with buttered bread crumbs. It’s totally something Rachel Ray would do, right? And, it would make my Methodist in-laws proud. Save for the wine I used to make the sauce (and wash it down).

I want to add that I’m sorry for not posting for nearly a week. I haven’t been feeling well and actually haven’t really been cooking, despite determining that this week would be Soup Week. While I did churn out a potato leek soup on Monday, I’ve avoided the kitchen since then.