How do you doll up your cottage cheese?

[Kayelle]

One of my favorite ways of dolling up cottage cheese is with meat sauce and pasta. It's a sub I love to use for Lasagna, as I don't like Ricotta cheese. You can blend it smooth if the texture is a problem for you.


I see now that Taxi beat me to this idea. Great minds and all that.

 

[pepperhead212]

Pepperhead, it might well be cheaper to buy it than to make it. But, if you only want a small amount and the rest of a package would go off, it's cheaper to make it. It's also handy to know how to make it in cases when you need a bit of cottage cheese, but you don't have any. I have seen recipes for the cc that called for rinsing the curds to get rid of the vinegar flavour.

I almost never have milk in the fridge, unless I had a particular recipe I was making, yet I almost always have cottage cheese, and it never goes bad - I am always having it with fruit as a dessert, or breakfast. It's milk that would go bad on me, so I sometimes make some queso fresco or buttermilk with the leftover milk.

 

[larry_stewart]

I dont eat it much anymore, but I liked it plain.

Also, I had a recipe that called for using it ( in addition to feta cheese) for spinach pie.
I was skeptical at first, but after trying it, it became my go to spinach pie recipe ( with some modifications . But now since my wife went vegan, I have many more modifications and challenges .

 

[Linda0818]

We mostly use cottage cheese as a substitute for ricotta in lasagna and have used it that way in ravioli.

My mom made the best lasagna and she always put cottage cheese in it. I miss that so much. I've never been able to make it that way because my boys (my son and my late husband) refused to eat lasagna with cottage cheese

As for eating cottage cheese on its own, I absolutely love the stuff. However, other than maybe a couple twists of black pepper, I prefer to eat it plain.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I enjoy CC any eay I can get it. A favorite is to make a string ragu, with lots of ground beef
I then add cottage cheese and stir it in well. I parboil manicotti noodles, drain, then pipe the ragu-cottage cheese mixture into the manicotti tubes. Place the manicotti into a rectangular bakin dish, cover with tomato sauce, and mozzarella, cover tghtly with foil, and bake at 325' for 45 minutes. This is involved and a bit time consuming, so make a lot. Leftovers freeze well.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Pellice]

I got started on cottage cheese with Craig Claiborne's recommendation to combine it with chopped cucumbers, scallions, and mayonnaise for a "light lunch." I branched out various greens, often radishes, and now mostly use red onions. When I use cucumbers, I peel and only quarter them, then dry, as they leak water, as you could guess. I serve it with those wonderful Finn Crisp flat crackers.

Although I'm usually an advocate for whole-dairy products, for this dish I like 2% cottage cheese, as otherwise, with the mayo, it tastes almost too rich.

A sprinkling of hot pepper, flakes, or chopped jalapenos is great as part of this, but I think most raw vegetables dull the taste (whatever that means ) This is one of my summertime staple lunches.

 

[cookieee]

I got started on cottage cheese with Craig Claiborne's recommendation to combine it with chopped cucumbers, scallions, and mayonnaise for a "light lunch." I branched out various greens, often radishes, and now mostly use red onions. When I use cucumbers, I peel and only quarter them, then dry, as they leak water, as you could guess. I serve it with those wonderful Finn Crisp flat crackers.

Although I'm usually an advocate for whole-dairy products, for this dish I like 2% cottage cheese, as otherwise, with the mayo, it tastes almost too rich.

A sprinkling of hot pepper, flakes, or chopped jalapenos is great as part of this, but I think most raw vegetables dull the taste (whatever that means ) This is one of my summertime staple lunches.

Hi Pellice, I am sooo glad you mentioned mayo. I have been going crazy since this thread was posted, trying to remember what it was that I used to put on the CC with mayo. I didn't want to mention it here in case everyone thought I was crazy putting mayo on CC. lol But it is good, right?

 

[Linda0818]

Hmmm... now you guys have me curious about the mayo with cottage cheese. I'll have to try that sometime.

 

[Pellice]

Craig Claiborne called a combination CC with mayo and the other ingredients "a joy." It really is a summery lunch. Takes well to deep-flavored crackers. And strong greens. And you don't need all that much mayo.

 

[Linda0818]

Craig Claiborne called a combination CC with mayo and the other ingredients "a joy." It really is a summery lunch. Takes well to deep-flavored crackers. And strong greens. And you don't need all that much mayo.

I'll definitely have to give that a go. Sounds like it would be good on my favorite crackers, the Back To Nature multigrain flax flatbreads.

 

[Oldvine]

I like my cottage cheese with a shake of pepper and some crispy bacon instead of fried eggs for breakfast. My mother-in-law gets credit for coaxing me to try it. She was right, I liked it and still do.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Oldvine, bacon can make anything better!

... A favorite is to make a string ragu, with lots of ground beef
I then add cottage cheese and stir it in well...

This reminded me of another way we've enjoyed it. Instead of a plate of fried cabbage and noodles, Himself said his mom also made fried noodles with cottage cheese. If we have wide noodles leftover from soup or stroganoff, I'll fry the noodles in butter until they get a bit crispy in spots, then add the cottage cheese and stir just until it starts to melt. If you let it go too long, it gets watery.

I see a number of you like it with pepper. Your posts reminded me of my Dad. He'd kill it with pepper the few times he would eat "that diet food". It's not like he didn't like cottage cheese, he just really loved pepper.

 

[GotGarlic]

So many great ideas here - thanks, all, and thanks to CG for starting the thread.

That doesn't mean it's done [emoji38] Keep 'em coming if you think of more!

 

[cookieee]

I like my cottage cheese with a shake of pepper and some crispy bacon instead of fried eggs for breakfast. My mother-in-law gets credit for coaxing me to try it. She was right, I liked it and still do.

ha ha CG is right, ANYTHING is better with bacon. I have never tried pepper on my CC, will have to give this idea a try. But I do love SALT on it. Good thing the store had a bogo on CC the other day.

 

[Linda0818]

When I was a kid, I used to love mixing my cottage cheese into my mashed potatoes. I just thought that was so good. And, admittedly, I still do it on occasion.

 

[Linda0818]

Oldvine, bacon can make anything better!


This reminded me of another way we've enjoyed it. Instead of a plate of fried cabbage and noodles, Himself said his mom also made fried noodles with cottage cheese. If we have wide noodles leftover from soup or stroganoff, I'll fry the noodles in butter until they get a bit crispy in spots, then add the cottage cheese and stir just until it starts to melt. If you let it go too long, it gets watery.

I see a number of you like it with pepper. Your posts reminded me of my Dad. He'd kill it with pepper the few times he would eat "that diet food". It's not like he didn't like cottage cheese, he just really loved pepper.

THAT sounds heavenly.

 

[Kayelle]

Speaking of noodles and cottage cheese, what could be better than a Jewish Kugel?

 

[Linda0818]

Speaking of noodles and cottage cheese, what could be better than a Jewish Kugel?

Oh my gosh, yes. I made that one time, many years ago, because I ran across a recipe for it and couldn't resist. And I had it all to myself because I was the only one who would eat cottage cheese. Hence the reason I probably haven't made it since because, although I loved it, I don't often make casseroles that I have to finish up all on my own.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

ha ha CG is right, ANYTHING is better with bacon. I have never tried pepper on my CC, will have to give this idea a try. But I do love SALT on it. Good thing the store had a bogo on CC the other day.

Have you ever tried chicken skin cracklings? Fried until light brown and crispy, and salted, IMHO the flavor is even better than bacon. You can crumble htem and put over anything that you would put bacon crumbles in or over. They are great eaten like you would consume chips as well.

I've never tried them with cottage cheese. Can't say how they's go with it.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[GotGarlic]

Have you ever tried chicken skin cracklings? Fried until light brown and crispy, and salted, IMHO the flavor is even better than bacon. You can crumble htem and put over anything that you would put bacon crumbles in or over. They are great eaten like you would consume chips as well.

Oooohh, yum, I make those every time I make braised chicken thighs, except that I bake them in the toaster oven. Sometimes I season them with whatever I used on the chicken. So good