A delicious, healthy Polish cottage cheese dip with radishes and chives, this twarozek recipe is light and refreshing.
Today's Polish cottage cheese dip is something we had every day for breakfast in the hotel in Poland last year. I tasted it the first day there and had it then every day on a slice of dark bread with some extra cucumber slices on top. Absolutely delicious! Not to mention healthy. Just some low-fat, high-protein cheese, herbs, and radishes, really, it can hardly get any healthier if you ask me.
Bread spreads or dips are a common affair around here; I prefer to eat a good and healthy spread on my bread in the morning or in the evening, then cold cuts or sweet spreads. Not that I mind those either, but bread spreads are so versatile, and with just a few healthy ingredients, you can make something new and delicious every time.
I have a few spreads in my repertoire that I make only once a year, things that can be canned like Zacusca - Romanian Eggplant Spread or this Vegan Wild Garlic and Sunflower Spread, which I always make in spring and which freezes very well.
And then I have all the regular spreads: cheese spreads like the Hungarian Spread with Feta, variations on hummus like the Hoummus with Tahini and Garlic, and many other spreads which I have never posted.
Ingredients
Cheese:
- The Polish spread is made with twarog, which is the Polish quark, a creamy fresh cheese made of cow's milk, which is very popular in Germany as well.
- The Polish version is a bit different than the German quark, dryer, but equally delicious.
- Alternatively, you can use regular cottage cheese.
- It is not as smooth as twarog, as cottage cheese has those big grains, but the taste is just as good and refreshing. I do not mind the grains at all, but you can always crush the small lumps with a fork.
- Draining cottage cheese is also recommended if it is very wet. It is not always necessary, though; it really depends on the brand. Place it in a fine-mesh sieve and leave it for about one hour to drain.
Yogurt or sour cream:
- Or any dairy product you happen to have, actually.
- I've made this dip dozens of times over the past few years, and I must have used any kind of dairy there is at one time or another, whatever I happened to have in the fridge.
- You can use Greek yogurt (low-fat or full-fat), quark (low-fat or full-fat), sour cream, smetana, creme fraiche, and cream cheese.
- The dip made with yogurt or low-fat versions of a product will taste lighter and more refreshing.
- When made with smetana, creme fraiche, and full-fat products, it will taste milder and heartier.
Vegetables:
- Fresh, crispy radishes and chives.
- I also love a version of this dip made with cucumbers. Deseed the cucumbers before chopping; the seeds release too much water.
How to serve?
Enjoy the Polish cottage cheese dip on dark rye bread, pumpernickel, or my personal favorite on wholemeal crispbread, either homemade crispbread or bought. Or serve it with raw vegetable sticks.
The spread keeps well for 3-4 days in the fridge. Keep in an airtight container. It is not suitable for freezing.
Other cottage cheese recipes
Polish Cottage Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- 14 g cottage cheese 400 g, Note 1
- 4 tablespoons yogurt or sour cream Note 2
- a bunch of chives
- 10 radishes
- fine sea salt
Instructions
- Mix cottage cheese and yogurt or sour cream. Crush the cottage cheese with a fork first, if you want the spread to have a smoother consistency.
- Chop the chives finely and the radishes finely. Add both to the cheese and mix well. Add salt to taste.
- Serve with dark rye bread, pumpernickel, or crispbread. Or serve as a dip for raw vegetable sticks.
Notes
- You can also make the dip with quark.
- You can use Greek yogurt (low-fat or full-fat), quark (low-fat or full-fat), sour cream, smetana, creme fraiche, cream cheese. The dip made with yogurt or low-fat versions of a product will taste lighter and more refreshing. When made with smetana, creme fraiche and full-fat products will taste milder and heartier.
- The nutrition is calculated with low-fat yogurt. If you use sour cream instead one portion will have 63 calories.
Sissi says
Beautiful cheese spread, Adina! It makes me think of sunny spring days... I am so happy you liked the radish version too! Thank you so much for all the kind words and links to my blog... I'm so happy you liked my suggestions.
This fresh cheese seemed such an ordinary stuff in Poland, but it's difficult to get in so many countries... Next time you buy it, try using it in the Hungarian spread too. Hungarian cheese is almost the same! (Maybe a bit drier, from what I saw on my short trip, but the taste and texture are almost the same). Nowadays apparently few Hungarians use the traditional sheep cheese and buy cow's cheese instead.
Adina says
I hope I can find it again, I did buy it before but they didn't have it this time. And thank you for the recipe, we loved it!
wildbill says
Saw this yesterday. Just made it. Love It! I live in the California desert. Daily temperatures are usually over 42C so this is perfect. This is soooo Good. Thank you.
Adina says
So glad you liked it!
wildbill says
I've made this any number of times over the last couple of years, it is so good! Today I didn’t have chives so, instead, used a small shallot. Wonderful! Chives are wonderful but shallots are not bad either. Thanks, again for this great yet humble dish!
Adina says
I am so happy to read this. We also love it very much, I buy the Polish cheese only to make this spread. Shallots sound great, I will try that as well.