3 ways to try ostrich in your next comfort food binge

Ostrich is known to be naturally leaner than red meats such as beef and lamb, so if you’re trying to eat more lean protein this is for you.

Lasagne

Ostrich mince brings a lighter taste to this classic dish.

To prepare the ostrich mince: heat 3 T olive oil in a saucepan and sauté 1 medium-sized chopped onion and 6 cloves of crushed garlic until soft. Add 500 g ostrich mince and brown for a couple of minutes. Add 70 g tomato paste, 2 x 400 g cans whole tomatoes, 3 sprigs thyme, 1 T oregano, ½ cup water and 1 T brown sugar and simmer over medium heat until the sauce starts to thicken, about 15 minutes. Stir through 30 g roughly chopped fresh Italian parsley and season to taste. View the ostrich lasagne recipe here.

Sausage roll

Heat 3 T olive oil and 2 T butter with 6 sprigs of fresh thyme. Add 2 chopped onions and 2 kg cubed ostrich steaks and sauté. Add 2 cups stock and simmer with lid on for about 2 hours or until soft. Leave to cool, then flake the meat. Add spices, blackcurrant jam, redcurrant jelly and Port (or apple juice). Season to taste.

Pro tip: Serve with roast beetroot and pumpkin seed salad or coconut-dressed cauli-rice winter salad. Get the full ostrich sausage roll recipe here.

Meatballs and sauce

Mix 500 g ostrich mince, 15 g parsley, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste, in a large bowl. Roll into golf ball-sized meatballs and chill for 5 minutes. Heat 2 T sunflower oil in a pan over a medium heat. Brown the meatballs in the pan, ensuring they’re browned all over. Remove from the pan and allow to rest. Want to try something new? Try cooking the meatballs in this Burmese curry sauce, find the full recipe here.

Cook’s note: Ostrich meat is very lean and overcooking it will make it chewy. Brown until medium rare, then finish cooking in the curry sauce.

Discover more recipes featuring ostrich here.

What’s your favourite thing to make with ostrich? Tell us in the comments below!