I know I have gone on and on in previous posts about how I try not to eat grains but I can tell you one thing I don’t miss about eating them…. lasagna noodles! No matter what I did in the past I felt like they always turned into a mushy mess. I hate MUSH. If I eat pasta I want it to be slightly under cooked if anything. (Side note: If you do love lasagna with traditional lasagna noodles, there is NO need to boil them first! Just layer them on and they will cook in the sauce… your welcome if you didn’t know this ;)). Aside from the mush I am still a sucker for lasagna. So I have been on the hunt for a good grain free version for awhile. I have tried using zucchini in lieu of the noodles several times but no matter what I did they were always SO watery and messy to deal with. The end result tasted really good but the layers wouldn’t stay in tact because of all the excess water so it was just a big messy pile when I served it up. I never tried eggplant because I’m not a fan but the other day I tried the winner… cabbage! I’m a huge fan of cabbage and usually just eat it roasted with olive oil and sea salt. I was really surprised how well this worked out and at first my husband didn’t even notice there weren’t noodles in it. I blanche the cabbage first trying to go for whole leaves but I think it would work fine if you tore off smaller pieces (because its easier) and cooked with those instead. For the sauce, I use my usual recipe that can be found here. If you try this out let me know what you think!!

Cabbage Lasagna

• 1 head green cabbage
• 2- 3 cups pasta sauce
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 clove garlic
• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• 4 cups mozzarella
• 2 eggs
• Tablespoon oregano
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan

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Begin by boiling some water in a large pot. Try to remove 10 or so full layers from the cabbage and boil for 8 mintues (I only boil three leaves at a time so this will take a few batches) until translucent and tender. If it is too hard to get the layers peeled away nicely you can also cut it into quarters and boil a batch at a time. Drain and set aside on a plate lined with paper towels so they can cool and dry a bit. Next cook up ground beef and drain any fat if needed. In a large mixing bowl mix ricotta, 1 cup of mozzarella, eggs, oregano, grated parmesan and set aside. Now arrange a layer of cabbage into a baking dish. I use a 9×9 for this. Spoon/spread 1/3 the cheese mixture over the cabbage leaves than 1/3 of the meat mixture followed by a layer of sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Top this with another layer of cabbage and repeat the next steps. Topping it all off with one more layer of cabbage, the rest of the cheese mix, meat mix, sauce and cheese. Before I bake this I place the baking dish on top of a larger baking sheet to capture any liquid that might run into your oven! Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375. If cheese isn’t brown enough throw the broiler on for a few minutes at the end.