Quick and Easy Filling for Cheese Blintzes

Blintzes are thin pancakes or crêpes filled with a savory or sweet mixture, folded, and then slowly fried in butter or another fat. Cheese mixtures are popular, but often call for a dry, fresh cheese called 'farmer cheese' that is often unavailable in local stores. This recipe, which takes only a few minutes to make, relies instead on the widely available product, large-curd cottage cheese.

3-1/2 oz (100 g) large-curd cottage cheese (cream style)
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1 t sugar

Place a small, wire-mesh strainer over a small bowl. Add the cottage cheese, and with the back of a spoon, press the cheese through the strainer, stopping to scrape the cheese from the backside of the strainer into the bowl. Continue to press the cheese through until not much remains. Add this remainder and the seasonings to the bowl and stir until smoothly combined. Fills two pancakes. Variation: Top each serving with fresh berry sauce.