When I was a little girl, I fell in love with a dish that my grandparents would make for my brother and me for lunch. It was a simple thing: light rye bread, tomato slices, finely chopped onion and a herbed cottage cheese spread made from scratch.
The cottage cheese that they used wasn’t the runny kind. It’s a hard-pressed cottage cheese you can occasionally find in the grocery store’s dairy section.
You can also find it in most Eastern European deli shops. In Ontario, the MC Dairy or Western brands do a good job with square-shaped blocks of pressed cottage cheese.
Similar to Gzik – a runnier version with finely chopped radishes, this cheese – ser – recipe is a favourite that can be made in under 5 minutes.
Upping The Flavour With A Herbed Cottage Cheese Spread
On its own, this type of cottage cheese is bland, but when you add a few key ingredients, it ends up being a delicious, flavourful spread.
Here’s the recipe for this herbed cottage cheese spread – the same way my grandparents (Babcia – ‘bab-cha’ aka grandma, and Dziadzio – ‘jaa-jo’ with the j as is jar – aka grandfather) used to make it.
Babcia & Dziadzio’s Herbed Cottage Cheese Spread
Herbed Cottage Cheese Spread
A rustic herbed cottage cheese spread that pairs nicely with bread, crackers, and potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup hard-pressed cottage cheese (approximately 1/3 of the cube – also called pressed dry cottage cheese)
- 3 tbsp low-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbs fresh chives, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped (optional, dried can be used as an alternate)
- 1 tbsp onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp Hungarian red paprika powder
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, crumble cottage cheese with a fork until broken down into crumbs.
- Add sour cream and mix well until the mixture is slightly creamy.
- Add chives, onion, dill (optional), paprika and salt and blend in well with cheese until uniform throughout.
Notes
Use as a spread for bread or to accompany boiled potatoes for a light lunch.
Store in the refrigerator for two days by firmly pressing a food wrap on top of the cheese. By preventing as much oxygen to the cheese, it reduces the chances of it going sour quickly.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 100Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 15mgSodium 802mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 0gSugar 3gProtein 11g
A Versatile Cheese Spread Recipe
This herbed cottage cheese spread can also make for a great addition to home-made hors d’oeuvres. Just add a smidgen more sour cream to make it creamier. Use it to top crackers, with freshly sliced cucumbers or halved grape tomatoes.
I like to serve it as a snack to my son – it’s a great way for him to get some calcium into his system.
However you enjoy this herbed cottage cheese spread recipe, the most important thing is to enjoy it when it’s fresh. When you just make it, it tastes AWESOME. With my handy trick of covering it up as much as possible with a clingy food wrap to reduce air, you can make it last for a couple of days in the refrigerator.
A complimentary dish to a cottage cheese spread is a chopped salad. Another great recipe from Dziadzio that’s tasty and refreshing!
QUESTION: Do you have a favourite cottage cheese spread recipe? If you try this one, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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