Vegetarian Cottage Cheese Patties ( way better than it sounds)

[Lucinda]

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetarian-cottage-cheese-patties/Detail.aspx

This is the base recipe and has eggs as written - so its really more of an Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian recipe:

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese (i use small curd, fairly dry)
1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
3 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for frying)
1 (10 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Beat eggs into a large bowl. Stir in cottage cheese, rolled oats, wheat germ, dry onion soup mix, and dried thyme. Form into 8 patties.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place patties in oil, and brown on both sides. Remove patties to a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Pour condensed soup into a small bowl. Stir in 1/2 can of water (or milk) to dilute, then pour over patties.
Bake in a preheated oven until the soup is bubbly, about 20 minutes.

~~~~~
MY notes:

There are TONS of variations/suggestions in the comments at the link. I made it as written except for the thyme and wheat germ and found it too wet to make patties so I covered it with bread crumbs and then fried as directed the first time. I also didn't like that much soup mix. So I never use more than half a package if I am not omitting it and adding my own spices. I also never use more than two eggs. I almost always add seasoned bread crumbs.
I don't fry them anymore, I bake on a lightly olive-oiled sheet for about 15 minutes, then turn the patties, add the soupy topping if I am using it, and continue baking for another 20 minutes. Way easier and they have good texture. Some reviewers above fry and never bake them.

It wasn't bad as written. Very salisbury steaky without meat.

In subsequent tests I have:
decreased by one egg
added cheese
played with different soupy toppings
cut the dry soup mix in half
omitted the soup mix entirely
added seasoned breadcrumbs
added drained rotel
played with the spices
added a layer of grated cheese over the soup
added a layer of grated cheese and omitted the soup entirely

It always turns out great, is really fun to experiment with, and reheats beautifully. It makes great burgers fresh out of the oven and soup-less.

It's definitely one of those "greater than the sum of it's parts" sort of recipes. It can easily be made vegan with a few substitutes.

Lucinda ♥

[Warpy]

1. I'd have to do a lot of substitutions if I didn't want to itch for a week

My own favorite cottage cheese recipe is cooked broccoli, cottage cheese and chopped walnuts over pasta or rice. The cottage cheese melts and the whole business is lovely.

[Lucinda]

2. That sounds gooood. I usually just use the eggs, cottage cheese and oats

then do my own thing. I'm not too big on the prepackaged soup mix.

[Warpy]

7. It's great for those times you really don't want to cook

Steam the broccoli over the boiling pasta, drain the pasta, mix it up and eat. Couldn't be easier.

[housewolf]

3. This looks really interesting

I would never have thought of anything like this. It looks like a good source of protein and you're having a lot of fun playing around with it. Congrats and thanks for posting.

[Lucinda]

4. It's actually really good too...depending on what you do with it

:)

[Aerows]

5. I'm in love with cottage cheese

I don't like sweets, and I'd rather eat a tub of it than ice cream. It's one of my favorite foods, unadulterated, by itself.

Cheers for cottage cheese :D

I'd love to see more recipes for it :)

[Lucinda]

6. It is good stuff!

I did a quick search at Allrecipes when I had a full tub and wanted something new to do with it. That's how I found the patties. They have about 200 recipes. Everything from breads to desserts.

http://allrecipes.com/Search/Recipes.aspx?WithTerm=cottage%20cheese