LOW-FAT BAKING : Not Cheesecake, Cheese <i> Pie</i>

Few things sound as boring as fat-free cottage cheese. But when you whip it until it’s silky smooth and flavor it with lime, it makes an absolutely delicious pie filling, one that, counting the crust, just happens to have only 7 grams of fat per slice.

We developed the filling almost by accident. We were testing the crust and needed something to fill it. A container of fat-free cottage cheese was in the refrigerator and so we thought we’d give it a try. Tasters in The Times’ Test Kitchen ate the results right up . . . and then asked for more.

Unlike cream cheese, which is also fresh unripened cheese but made from rich heavy cream, cottage cheese is processed from nonfat milk. Each ounce of cream cheese contains 10 grams of fat; compare that with a half gram of fat in the same amount of low-fat cottage cheese. Better yet, in this pie we used nonfat cottage cheese, which you can buy in most stores.

To cut the fat further, our oat pie crust contains less than 50% of the fat found in a standard pie crust. For flavor in the pastry we used mainly butter; for a little flakiness we added a bit of canola oil, and for tenderness we used a mix of low-gluten oat flour blend and cake flour. To make it easier to handle, we combined the flours with all-purpose or unbleached flour.

BANANA-LIME CHEESE PIE

1 cup fat-free cottage cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

Juice and grated zest 1 lime

2 tablespoons sugar or to taste

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 (8-inch) Oat Pie Crust

3 tablespoons low-calorie apricot spread or other fruit preserve

2 medium bananas

Place cottage cheese in food processor bowl and process until smooth. Add vanilla, lime juice, lime zest, sugar and flour. Process until very smooth. Spread bottom of Oat Pie Crust with 1 1/2 tablespoons apricot preserve. Slice bananas into 1/4-inch thick slices and spread over preserves. Pour in cheese filling, spreading evenly. Spoon remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons preserve in streaks over pie filling.

Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes or until filling is set. Serve warm or cold. Makes 8 servings.

Each serving contains about:

192 calories; 143 mg sodium; 12 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 0.23 gram fiber.

If desired, vary the flavor of this crust by replacing the citrus zest with any ground sweet spice.

Oat Pie Crust

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons oat flour blend

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour or unbleached flour

1/4 cup cake flour

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons cold butter, diced

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 teaspoon grated lemon or lime zest or 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons very cold water

Sift oat flour, all-purpose flour, cake flour and sugar into large bowl. Work butter into flour with fingers or cut in with pastry blender until flour bits are size of small peas. Using fork, stir in oil and lemon zest. Slowly add cold water, 1 teaspoon at time, tossing with fork until flour is moistened without being wet.

Gather dough with moist hands, shape into flattened round and let stand about 15 minutes. Roll 1/8-inch thick on lightly floured board. (To facilitate rolling, dough may also be rolled between sheets of wax paper. Or unrolled dough may be placed in pan and gently pressed to cover inside of pan.) Gently lift and press onto 8-inch metal pie pan or tart pan (if dough breaks, it is easily patched). Flute edges. Bake at 425 degrees 10 to 12 minutes or until light-golden brown.

Note: Unsalted butter will give a more delicate fresh flavor in this pastry. Add little salt if using.