Dessert Lasagne

After making a vegetable lasagne last week, my workmates started a discussion about what actually constitutes a lasagne – does it HAVE to contain meat?! It was most likely an off-hand remark, but one of them set me a challenge to create a sweet, dessert lasagne. Well, I love a challenge…and this is what I ended up with! It’s actually really delicious and turned out better than I expected! I probably still prefer the traditional apple crumble & custard, but it’s a pretty good alternative.

Ingredients (serves 8)
8 apples, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup dates, chopped
1/4 cup seed mix (I used sunflower seeds and pepitas)
600mL custard (I made mine from custard powder, but you could buy a carton or make from scratch)
4 fresh lasagne sheets
50g butter, melted
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup coconut
extra dates, to sprinkle (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease a medium square baking dish.

Combine apples with cinnamon, vanilla and dates in a small saucepan with a splash of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 8 minutes, until soft. Stir through the seed mix.

Make crumble by combining butter, oats, brown sugar, flour and coconut in a small bowl.

Take prepare dish and spread 1/2 of the apple mixture on the bottom. Top with 2 lasagne sheets, trimming to fit. Next, layer half of the custard.

Repeat with remaining fruit, then lasagne sheets, then custard. Sprinkle crumble on top and extra dates.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown on top.