Preparation

• Begin by chopping the cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half, use a sharp knife to remove the core. Slice the cabbage into roughly 1-inch wide pieces. You will need 10 cups of cabbage in all, approximately ¾ of a large head of cabbage.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the cabbage for 2 minutes. Cook in batches if it does not fit all at once in the pot. Drain well and set aside in a bowl.
• In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat. When it is no longer pink, stir in the diced onion, carrot, celery, garlic; red pepper flakes, if using, and salt. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
• Pour in 3 cups of the tomato juice and rice. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the grated Parmigiano cheese and half the chopped parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning, as needed.
• Grease a baking dish, 9 x 13 inch, with oil and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Evenly spread ⅓ of the chopped cabbage over the bottom of the dish. Ladle half the beef mixture over the cabbage. Sprinkle evenly with ⅓ of the shredded mozzarella.
• Layer ½ of the remaining cabbage over the mozzarella and the rest of the beef mixture over it. Cover with ½ of the remaining mozzarella.
• Spread the rest of the cabbage over the mozzarella. Pour the remaining tomato juice evenly over the entire surface and sprinkle the last of the mozzarella over the cabbage.
• Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve hot.