Use curds creatively, cheaply

By AMY CULBERTSON

Any whey you look at it, cottage cheese isn’t just for dieters anymore

11111We don’t realize there’s plenty of potential in a carton of cottage cheese. If there’s cottage cheese in your fridge, you’ve got a start on breakfast, lunch or even dinner — and an inexpensive start, at that. With food prices soaring, it’s an economical way to add protein to a meal without adding a lot of fat.

You can use it as a sauce for pasta, or you can stir it into a casserole or quiche. Drained briefly in a strainer, cottage cheese can be substituted for ricotta in many recipes; with longer draining, it can replace farmer’s cheese. I usually choose small-curd, which has a little more acidity than large-curd, for cooking.

CHURCHILL HOUSE COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES

“These delicate pancakes, lighter and less sweet than the typical flapjack, are a specialty of the Churchill House Inn in Vermont.”

4 eggs

1 cup small-curd cottage cheese

1‚Ñ2 cup all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the skillet

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Lightly grease an ovenproof platter.

Beat eggs in a medium bowl; stir in cottage cheese. Add flour and mix until just blended but still lumpy. Add melted butter and stir gently to combine.

Melt a pat of butter in a large nonstick skillet or on a griddle over medium heat. Pour batter by 1‚Ñ4 cupfuls onto the skillet, spacing the pancakes apart. Cook until edges are light golden brown and bubbles form on top. Turn pancakes over and cook until the bottoms are light golden brown. Pancakes should be crispy outside but creamy inside. Place cooked pancakes on platter in oven to keep warm while you make the rest. Serve with butter and warm maple syrup or honey.

Serves 3-4.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 445 calories, 31 grams fat, 19 grams carbohydrates, 21 grams protein, 351 milligrams cholesterol, 403 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 64 percent of calories from fat.

“Dishing Up Vermont” by Tracey Medeiros (Storey Publishing, $19.95)

ITALIAN FLAG COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD

16 ounces small-curd cottage cheese

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

6 medium green onions (white and most of green parts), sliced

4 tablespoons buttermilk

Salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste

6 large basil leaves

In a strainer set over a bowl, drain cottage cheese about 10 minutes; discard liquid.

Combine cottage cheese with red bell pepper and onions; gently stir in buttermilk, a pinch of salt and several generous grindings of pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Just before serving, chiffonade the basil: Roll leaves up together into tight cigars and slice thinly crosswise with a sharp knife. Scatter basil chiffonade over the salad.

Serves 4.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 123 calories, 2 grams fat, 8 grams carbohydrates, 17 grams protein, 10 milligrams cholesterol, 481 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 18 percent of calories from fat.

ALSATIAN-STYLE BACON AND ONION TART

“I’ve long since forgotten whom I saw making an Alsatian-style tart on a TV cooking show many years ago, but I do remember that I made the tart that very evening. ... It offers an interesting alternative to pizza, and using purchased puff pastry makes preparation easy. The edges of the pastry puff up to form an attractive crust. Use whole-milk cottage cheese.”

6 slices thick-cut bacon

1 medium sweet onion

Salt to taste

1 sheet purchased puff pastry (from 17.25-ounce package)

3‚Ñ4 cup small-curd cottage cheese

1‚Ñ3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons olive oil

Coarsely ground black pepper to taste

Set a large skillet over medium heat; slice the bacon in half lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1‚Ñ2-inch pieces. Add bacon to skillet and cook, stirring and tossing frequently, until bacon is beginning to color but is not yet crisp, 7-8 minutes. Lower heat if bacon browns too quickly. Remove bacon from skillet with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; leaving grease in skillet; return skillet to heat.

While bacon is cooking, slice onion very thinly (a mandoline will yield the best results). After you remove bacon from skillet, add the sliced onion with a pinch of salt; reduce heat to medium-low and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until onions are pale golden, about 25 minutes. Do not let onions burn; reduce heat to low toward end of cooking and stir frequently.

While onions are cooking, remove puff pastry sheet from freezer to thaw.

In a blender, combine cottage cheese, sour cream, olive oil, a pinch of salt and a generous grinding of pepper; blend until smooth.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly flour a work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out puff pastry to make a rough 12-inch square and transfer to baking sheet (you can also roll the pastry out directly on the lined baking sheet).

Spread cottage cheese mixture onto pastry, leaving a 1-inch border. Distribute onions evenly over cheese, then scatter bacon evenly on top. Bake on middle rack of oven until crust is puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Serves 4 as a main dish.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 838 calories, 58 grams fat, 60 grams carbohydrates, 19 grams protein, 20 milligrams cholesterol, 639 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber, 63 percent of calories from fat.