Apple Lasagna - Am I Kidding?

No. It's for real. A lasagna for dessert.

Pasta sheets are made from dough, aren't they? Of course they are. Pie crust is made from dough. Isn't it? Yep.

So what's all the fuss?

There are some purists out there who took me to task for messing with the Italian classic. But this isn't the first time I've messed around with classic lasagna. A number of years ago when I first started doing the weekly Kitchen Guy program, I made a crab meat lasagna -- probably one of the most expensive dishes I've ever made on the program. Do you know how much crab meat you have to use to fill a 9x13 baking dish?

Anyway, I decided to give this a whirl and treat the apple lasagna as if it were a hybrid between a pie and a crumble, hence the topping made from quick-cooking oats, butter and brown sugar. I could have added nuts and raisins -- hey -- that's a great idea! Next time I make it, I'm going to add nuts and raisins.

Seriously, if you want to surprise the family or dinner guests with an unusual dessert, this will do it. It has all of the elements of a lasagna, with the apple pie filling (I used the canned stuff found in the baking aisle of the supermarket, but you can certainly make your own), as a substitute for the meat and sauce; the lasagna sheets, of course, and the cheese filling.

In my traditional lasagna, I use a combination of cheeses, but I chose to use only ricotta. I suppose I could have used mascarpone, as it is already sweetened. But ricotta seemed the logical choice to keep up the lasagna-like appearance of the dessert.

So while you'll never find this dessert in any self-respecting Italian restaurant, it's perfectly acceptable to serve it in our homes. don't you agree? After all, we want to eat stuff that tastes good. And this dessert really tastes good. Here's the video, followed by the recipe.

8 lasagna noodles (uncooked)

2 20-oz. cans apple pie filling

1 32-oz. container Ricotta cheese

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

6 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup quick-cooking oats

freshly grated nutmeg

Grease a 9x13 baking dish and spread some of the apple pie filling on the bottom. Layer four lasagna noodles over the apple pie filling.

Mx together the Ricotta with the eggs, the almond extract and (white) sugar. When well-combined, spread evenly over the lasagna layer. Top with four more sheets of lasagna noodles and spread the remaining apple pie filling on top.

In another bowl, crumble together the flour, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, oats and nutmeg. Sprinkle over the top layer of apple pie filling.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing.

Top with sweetened sour cream or vanilla ice cream.