This can work as a main course, though it is better, perhaps, as a side dish with poultry or as a filling for Pierogi (page 59). Given real-world options, fresh ricotta might be your best bet for cheese. If all you can find are packaged cheeses, small curd, full-fat cottage cheese is probably the best choice.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1 cup kasha

　　1 cup sour cream, plus more for garnish, if you like

　　1 cup farmer cheese, pot cheese, cottage cheese, or ricotta

　　2 tablespoons butter, plus a little for the pan

　　1/2 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade (page 160)

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add salt. Rinse the kasha in a strainer. Cook the kasha in the water until barely tender, about 5 minutes; drain, but leave it quite moist.

　　

Step 2

Combine the kasha with the sour cream, cheese, butter, and stock; taste and add pepper and more salt if necessary. Use some more butter to liberally grease an 8- or 9-inch square pan. Spoon or pour in the kasha mixture and bake until heated through and lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Serve, with more sour cream if you like.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.