Cabbage Lasagna? Who Knew?

OK, so there's the deal: I bought a GI-normous head of green cabbage at the Farmer's Market and a person can only make so much slaw, so I was cruising around on the web looking for cabbage recipes and lo and behold came across one for lasagna! Of course, I didn't have all the same ingredients that they had but I did indeed have CABBAGE so there you have it. Now, just because you CAN make a certain recipe, doesn't necessarily mean that you SHOULD! However, I'm here to tell you that the final product was mighty tasty, so go figure. I guess I will draw the line at some concoctions like let's say, marshmallow lasagna?? ha ha oh well..........possibly not?

Need an 81/2 X 11 baking dish
Enough cabbage leaves to make two layers--don't worry if they're not big or perfect
3/4 lb. ground beef (could use turkey or chopped mushrooms instead)
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
Italian seasoning (or just use oregano and basil) 1 big T
Red pepper flakes ( I basically put these in everything!) a kitchen staple IMHO
1 pkg. of reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tub ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese

Make sauce:
Brown ground beef and salt and pepper the meat, then add onion, green pepper, garlic, cook for five minutes then add the tomatoes, sauce, spices, red pepper flakes and cover and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Steam the cabbage in the microwave about five mutes so that it's cooked and limp.

Preheat over to 350

Assemble the lasagna:  put a little bit of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, then a layer of cabbage, then 1/2 the meat sauce, then 1/2 the mozzarella, then 1/2 the ricotta, then a cabbage layer, meat, mozzarella,  ricotta and top it all with Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, then remove foil and cook maybe 5 or ten more minutes--you can run under the broiler if you want to brown the top more. Let this dish sit for at least 15 minutes as it's easier to cut and actually tastes better too when not scorching hot.