Meaty meals for all!
Everyone loves a hearty dinner – and our four-legged friends deserve the same.
When it comes to whipping up a family meal, flavour and nutrition are key! Not only for the humans in the household but also the fur babies who deserve food prepared with quality ingredients too.
Sounds expensive and too much like hard work? Not at all. Petley’s Gourmet Pet Food is inspired by your pet’s natural diet and the recipes are created in partnership with pet nutritionists.
We asked two of our favourite pet-loving chefs, Emma Wilson and Clem Pedro, to create a meaty meal the whole family can enjoy. Tuck in, but not before opening a convenient can of Petley’s for your pets.
Trained at the Cape Town Hotel School in Granger Bay, Emma’s food philosophy is simple: “Everything in moderation – you are what you eat!” Her paw princess Shiraz, a six-year-old Staffie, is as much family to Emma as any of her two-legged relatives and Petley’s provides her pooch with the meaty, proteinrich meals she loves, and needs.
The family eats Ostrich Meatballs
in chunky Tomato Sauce Serves 4–6 people
INGREDIENTS For the meatballs
• 15ml olive oil • 1 red onion, chopped • 1 garlic clove, crushed • 500g ostrich mince • 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped • 5ml mixed spice • 5ml dried chilli • 50g breadcrumbs • 1 egg • 2ml salt For the tomato sauce • 15ml olive oil • 2 carrots, sliced • 1 leek, sliced • 1 garlic clove, crushed • 5ml dried chilli • 2 tins (340g) tomatoes • 30ml tomato paste • 1 tin (340g) chickpeas • 250ml beef stock • 5ml salt • 2 sprigs vine tomatoes • 80g Parmesan • fresh parsley
METHOD Start with the meatballs
1 Fry the onion in olive oil until soft and translucent then add the garlic and continue to fry. Remove from heat.
2 Put the ostrich mince, cooked onion and garlic, parsley, mixed spice, dried chilli, breadcrumbs, egg and salt in a bowl. Mix with your hands to combine and then roll into balls.
3 Place the meatballs on a prepared baking tray and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4 Grill the meatballs to brown them but not to cook them. Make the sauce 1 Fry the carrots, leeks and garlic in olive oil until soft. Then add the dried chilli, tinned tomatoes, tomato paste and chickpeas and stir to combine. Add the stock and leave to reduce and thicken.
2 When thickened, add the meatballs and vine tomatoes. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes to finish off the meatballs.
3 Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley and serve with delicious broccoli mash.
Also a Cape Town Hotel School graduate and the resident chef on Afternoon Express, Clem’s food philosophy is: “Focus on quality over quantity and don’t over-complicate your dishes.” Just like her dad, it’s hard to keep Nessie the four-year-old Scottish Terrier out of the kitchen, especially if her favourite Petley’s Gourmet Meaty Meals are on offer!
The family eats Slow-cooked Oxtail
with Carrot and Crème Fraîche Purée
INGREDIENTS
• 2T extra-virgin olive oil • 1kg oxtail • 1 onion, finely diced • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste • 1 stalk celery, finely diced • 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped • 2 bay leaves • 1 stalk rosemary • 1 stalk thyme • 2T tomato paste • 1 cup red wine • 1 handful golden sultanas (soaked in hot water until plump) • 2 cups beef stock • enough water to cover the ingredients For the carrot purée • 2 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced • 1 large leek, washed and chopped • 2T butter • 2T crème fraîche • salt to taste METHOD Cook the oxtail
1 Heat the oil over medium heat before adding the oxtail and browning evenly; brown the oxtail in batches so it caramelises and doesn’t steam.
2 Once browned, remove the oxtail from the pot and add the onions, seasoning, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add extra olive oil if needed. Brown the onions before adding the celery, carrot and garlic to cook and soften.
3 Add the herbs, tomato paste and red wine and reduce slightly or until most of the red wine has reduced.
4 Roughly chop the sultanas and add them to the pot along with the water they were soaked in. Add the beef stock and water and reduce the heat slightly, allowing the dish to gently simmer with the lid on for two-and-a-half hours or until the meat begins to pull from the bone.
5 Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce slightly.
Prepare the carrot purée
1 Put the carrots, leeks and butter in a pot with just enough water to cover them and simmer gently over a medium to low heat until the carrots are tender and all the water has evaporated.
2 Put the cooked ingredients in a blender with the crème fraîche and pulse to form a smooth sauce. Season lightly with salt and serve with the slow-cooked oxtail and dressed organic baby leaves.
The secret ingredient in Petley’s is that there are no secrets in their ingredients! With up to 50% real meat in each can, Petley’s is low in carbs and rich in protein. There are no artificial flavours or colourants and each can is slow-cooked to ensure the good oils, flavours and nutrients are preserved.