Cottage Cheese Pudding with Mushrooms

Name: Cottage Cheese Pudding with Mushrooms
Ingredients: 400 g small-curd cottage cheese; 4 eggs; 100 g sour cream; a large pinch of salt; 50 g cheese (for the top); 200 g cremini mushrooms; 100 g onion; 2-4 cloves of garlic; clarified butter or vegetable oil (for frying)

For a long time I'd been searching for something to replace my usual cottage cheese casserole. Cottage cheese pancakes and cottage cheese casserole are the most requested dinner dishes in my house, so I've made them countless times, experimenting almost every single time. I've tried different types of flour and all kinds of add-ins — from plain raisins all the way to kumquats, pear slices, and chunks of chocolate. But today I'm sharing my newest, one-of-a-kind cottage cheese dish. Like a casserole, it's packed with goodness (thanks to the cottage cheese and eggs), but it's savory and loaded with mushrooms. The idea to experiment with mushrooms actually came from my husband. The result was absolutely incredible — and don't let the combination of cottage cheese, garlic, and mushrooms throw you off, I promise it all comes together more harmoniously than you'd expect)) This latest experiment of mine was so well received that I've already made it at least 5–7 times, which is very unlike me!)) P.S. The outcome really depends on the cottage cheese. I liked it less with the smooth, soft kind that comes in a tub — but with small-curd cottage cheese, the kind you'd use for cottage cheese pancakes, it turns out absolutely perfect!

Ingredients:

400 g small-curd cottage cheese
4 eggs
100 g sour cream
a large pinch of salt
50 g cheese (for the top)
Filling:
200 g cremini mushrooms
100 g onion
2-4 cloves of garlic
clarified butter or vegetable oil (for frying)

How to cook cottage cheese pudding with mushrooms

Melt clarified butter or vegetable oil in a skillet (I use clarified butter), add the onion sliced into thin half-rings and the garlic sliced into thin pieces. Cook until soft and lightly golden.

Add the mushrooms (I use frozen mushrooms cut into quarters) and cook until all the released liquid has completely evaporated. Season generously with salt and pepper toward the end.

Beat the eggs with the salt.

Add the cottage cheese and sour cream.

Beat a little more — since the cottage cheese is small-curd, the mixture won't be completely smooth, and that's perfectly fine.

Grease a baking dish with butter — mine is 20 cm. Spread the mushrooms over the bottom.

Carefully pour the egg mixture over the mushrooms, trying not to disturb them.

Sprinkle with coarsely grated cheese. If your oven tends to brown cheese too quickly, add it halfway through baking — I sprinkle it on right from the start.

Place in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 40–50 minutes, until the cheese starts to turn golden. Done! Serve immediately while hot.

This fragrant cottage cheese pudding with mushrooms is incredibly delicious, tender, unique, and wholesome — it contains no flour, no semolina, no starch, and no sugar, but it's loaded with nutritious cottage cheese!