Using cabbage leaves as noodles and wraps

Last week I made my first keto lasagna using cabbage leaves as the noodles. (You can also use lengthwise sliced zucchini as a noodle substitute.) I wanted to try the technique because not only can you sub the cabbage for flat lasagna noodles, but you can also use them to be the wrap for Asian spring rolls. During the summer, that's one of my favorite, healthy dishes.

Everyone asked me to post the lasagna recipe, but the fact is that I really just made a basic lasagna and cheated by using jarred sauce. So this post is really to give you the tips for the cabbage and then the basics for lasagna.

Cabbage leaf preparation

There's no need to buy any special type of cabbage. Just a good size head of it. You don't want it too small because the leaves will be harder to pull off as whole. If you buy a large head, you'll get down about half way and then save the rest for cole slaw or some other use.

Carefully cut the core out of the bottom so that you can peel the leaves off. 

 Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon or two of salt to the water and then drop in your cabbage leaves. Because they are so big, you will probably have to stir the pot a couple of times as they cook. You will need to cook them for 15-20 minutes.

On your counter, lay out a clean towel and carefully lay out the cabbage leaves in a single layer to drain and dry out a bit. I'd let them sit for at least 30 minutes.

Once they have dried out, you can start assembling your lasagna: cabbage, sauce, cheese mixture. I found that some of the larger leaves had that thick stem core and so I carefully cut just that bit out. It makes the cabbage lie flatter and you wouldn't have a chunk in the middle. Repeat these layers until you have run out of components or hit the top of your baking dish.

Now as I said, I didn't do anything special for the components. It's up to you if you wish to make it vegetarian or use some other meat/sauce.

Meat sauce - I browned a pound of good quality ground beef and then threw in a jar of low carb marinara sauce. 

Cheese mixture - 2 cups of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 beaten egg, salt, pepper.

I took some fresh basil from my garden, chopped it up, and sprinkled it throughout, as seen in the picture above.

The top layer is a package of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Now to try the leaves as spring roll wrappers...