Noodles With Cheese

When I was a kid, my grandmother would sometimes serve egg noodles and pot cheese with cinnamon and sugar, even as a main dish for a dairy meal. I bought the pot cheese, but when I described it to my boyfriend, he wasn't thrilled at the idea of something so sweet as a main dish... so we came up with this instead. If you can't find pot cheese, put ricotta (or better, large curd cottage cheese) in a cheesecloth-lined colander and allow it to drain for a couple of hours.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 3⁄4 lb  wide egg noodles
• 1  tablespoon butter
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1  large shallot, minced
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄4 lb sun-dried tomato, in oil, diced
• 1⁄2 ounce fresh basil leaf, cut in chiffonade
• 3⁄4 lb  pot cheese, at room temperature
•  salt, to taste
•  freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1⁄3 cup  grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring 3-4 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add noodles. When it returns to the boil, cook 10-11 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in olive oil in a large skillet. Add shallot and saute slowly until soft and translucent. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes and 1/3 of the basil. (You can also add a teaspoon or two of the oil from the tomatoes.) Saute 3-4 minutes more.
3. When the noodles are al dente, drain and add to the skillet. Add remaining basil, pot cheese, salt, pepper and Parmesan and mix well. Serve with additional Parmesan at the table.