If the thought of watery cottage cheese makes you heave, try draining it, in a sieve or piercing a hole in the bottom of the tub. Makes it a whole lot drier.
Even better, try fat-free curd cheese, which is very dry. It used to be called Quark, a German branded product, but you can buy the equivalent in Sainsbury and Asda, at least, and probably other supermarkets and delis.
And then there's tofu....firm, rather than silken, and it also benefits from drying out before use.