Apricot Phyllo Crisp

A number of years ago I caught an episode of " Everyday Food" where the host was making a spinach pie with a "tangled" phyllo crust on top.  What a terrific idea I thought, for those of us who are "phyllo challenged".  This week I wanted to make an apricot cobbler type dish and decided that this tangled topping would make and excellent Crisp.

Makes one 10 inch round baking dish

 For the apricots:
3/4 cups sliced almonds
3 Tbl butter
3 Tbl honey
4 Tbl granulated sugar
2 to 2  1/2 pounds apricots, pitted and sliced into 1/3 inch wedges
1 Tbl cornstarch
1 tsp almond extract

Place the sliced almonds in a large dry saute pan and over medium heat gently toast them. Remove from pan.
In the same pan melt the butter along with the honey and sugar.  Add all but 3 Tbl of the toasted almonds (reserved almonds will be for sprinkling over the finished Crisp)
Gently stir in the sliced apricots and sprinkle the cornstarch over again gently stirring over the heat for about one minute.  Off the heat stir in the almond extract and pour the mixture into a 10x10 inch baking pan or a 10 inch round baking dish with sides about 2 inches.

For the crisp phyllo topping:

8 ounces phyllo dough, thawed overnight in the fridge if purchased frozen.
4 Tbl butter, melted
2 Tbl granulated sugar
The prepared apricot mixture
Th 3 Tbl of reserved almonds
Confectioners sugar for dusting (optional)

Pre heat your oven to 350F.  open your package of phyllo but don't unroll it.  Lay the roll on a cutting board and with a sharp knife cut the roll in 1/2 inch pieces.
Toss the pieces of phyllo around to open the rolls and then pour the butter over and sprinkle with the sugar. Toss again so that the phyllo is somewhat all coated with butter and sugar.
Top the prepared apricot mixture with the tangled phyllo and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is lightly browned and the apricots are bubbly.  Out of the oven, sprinkle with the remaining almonds.  Let rest about 10 minutes before serving. Dust each serving with confectioners sugar if desired.