Italian lemon cheesecake

10 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1⅓ cup Part-skim ricotta cheese
4 ounces Neufchatel or light cream cheese
⅓ cup Sugar
2 Eggs; separated
½ cup Low-fat milk
¼ cup White all-purpose flour
3 ounces Dried apricots; roughly chopped
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
2 teaspoons Grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
4 Sheets phyllo pastry
1½ tablespoon Unsalted butter or margarine melted
½ cup Unsweetened apple juice

Directions

APRICOT SPREAD

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Generously coat a 9" pie plate with vegetable cooking spray.

2. In a food processor or blender process the cheeses, sugar, egg yolks, milk, flour, lemon juice, lemon rind, and vanilla until smooth. In a bowl whip the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the mixture.

3. Place the 4 sheets of phyllo pastry into the prepared pan, crisscrossing them on the bottom and brushing each lightly with some of the butter or margarine. Trim the overhanging pastry leaving a 2" border all around.

(There's an illustration that I can't really reproduce here that shows how to place the phyllo leaves. Basically, the bottom 2 are crossed and then one is placed horizontal and the other vertical.) 4. Place the filling in the pan, roll the outer edges of the overlapping pastry toward the filling, tucking it in and rolling it to create a rim. Brush the edges lightly with the remaining butter or margarine.

5. Place the pan on a cookie sheet, put in the center of the oven.

Place a baking pan with 2" of water on the lower rack of the oven.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack. Chill for 6 hours or overnight.

6. Top with the apricot spread, if desired, and serve the pie chilled, cut into wedges.

*This pie can be baked without the crust as a pudding.

200 calories per serving

APRICOT SPREAD

1. In a small saucepan bring the apricots and juice to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer very slowly for 45 minutes, or until smooth and softened, stirring occasionally.

2. Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then process in a food processor or blender until smooth.

3. Place in a covered container and chill for 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Serve chilled.

*Other dried fruits such as peaches or prunes can be substituted for the apricots.

This can be used as a fruit spread on toast, a topping on pies or as a natural low-sugar flavoring for plain yogurt.

281 calories per cup; 18 per tablespoon from Make It Easy, Make It Light by Laurie Burrows Grad typed by Tiffany Hall-Graham

Submitted By TIFFANY HALL-GRAHAM On 10-18-94

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