Cottage Cheese and Tomato Pasta

It’s truly dinner on the double when all you need to do is toss cooked pasta with warmed pasta sauce and a protein-packed cottage cheese mixture.

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Use ladle to remove 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid to small bowl. Cover bowl to keep liquid warm. Set aside. Drain pasta well. Return pasta to hot pan. Add butter. Stir to combine. Cover and let stand while preparing sauce.
2. Meanwhile, in microwave-safe bowl cook pasta sauce, covered, on high for 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Stir into hot pasta. Cover.
3. Place cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper in food processor. Cover and process until nearly smooth. With processor running add 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the reserved pasta cooking liquid, processing until mixture is of desired consistency. Pour into large bowl.
4. Pour pasta mixture from hot pan over cottage cheese mixture in bowl. Toss until combined. Ladle onto serving plates. Drizzle with additional pasta sauce (if desired). Serve with additional Parmesan cheese (if desired).

Yield: 8 cups pasta mixture; 6 servings