Prepare the cabbage leaves. Blanch them in boiling water with salt and lemon having already removed the hard stems. Do not discard the stock. I wanted to have a two-colour effect so I prepared white and dark.
Prepare the stuffing of your liking. Either rice with ground meat or just rice with herbs, like dill, spearmint and spring onions to make them yialantzi (meatless) or any of the other related recipes.
Line a baking mold with greaseproof paper (I use it with everything!) and brush it with oil.
Place a layer of white leaves only at the bottom, they are the ones that later will be on top.
Then, line the sides with dark leaves hanging over the top of the baking mold and start spreading the stuffing, which should not be too runny.
Repeat the process making as many layers as your baking mold will take, alternating stuffing and leaves. The more layers you make the better the cut will look. Finally, place the last leaves and fold over with the ones that you have hanging off the sides of the baking mold.
Place cups with water on top to weigh everything down. Add lemon, oil and instead of water, use the stock that you have boiled the cabbage leaves in. Bake at 180°C for 90 minutes.
After baking for about 90 minutes (depending on how boiled or ready the stuffing was) take it out of the oven, remove the cups and turn it upside down in a platter.
Prepare a lemon sauce or egg and lemon sauce and pour over it or make a pattern that shows off the two-colour appearance of the lahanodolma.
Let it set for a while and then cut and serve. It is also very good on the next day!
