Every time we make a batch of ice cream we end up with a mountain of egg whites, and this is where they now go. Blended with a few tins of sardines and baked over grated carrot and cabbage, they set into a thin slab that cuts into flat, ready-to-go portions for the dogs. Our two bull mastiffs get one piece each on top of their kibble. It adds plenty of protein for very few calories, which suits us because they are both carrying a bit too much weight. This is a topper, not a meal, so the kibble still does the heavy lifting.

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All ready to cook

EGG WHITE AND SARDINE DOG DINNER TOPPER

This uses a lot of egg whites – it is about 4 batches of my ice-cream, made over several days. It can easily be reduced in quantities. Nothing is vital and proportions are not that important.

Ingredients

  • 1500 g egg whites (from about 30 eggs)
  • 3 tins sardines in water (about 110 g each), undrained
  • 300 g carrot, grated
  • 300 g cabbage, grated or finely sliced

Method

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The vegetables scattered over the tray

  1. Heat the oven to 160°C on hot air with humidity (Hot Air Humid on a combi steam oven). Line two 30 x 40 cm sheet pans with silicone mats, making sure the mats come up the sides.
  2. Scatter the 300 g grated carrot and 300 g cabbage evenly over the two pans, half on each.
  3. Put the 1500 g egg whites in the food processor or blender or even stick mixer, and blend for a few seconds only, just enough to break them up. Work in two batches if your processor leaks when filled with liquid.
  4. Add the 3 tins of sardines, with their oil, and pulse briefly to break up the fish and mix it through.
  5. Pour the egg white and sardine mixture over the vegetables, dividing it evenly between the two pans. It should sit about 1 cm deep.
  6. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the slab is firm in the centre and no longer wet when pressed. Swap the pans between shelves halfway through.
  7. Cool in the pans, with the oven door ajar, then lift each slab out on its mat onto a board and cut 4 by 3 to give 12 pieces per pan, 24 pieces in total at roughly 100 g each.
  8. Freeze the pieces spread out on a tray, then bag them once solid so they do not stick together, or stack them sideways in a plastic container so they look like slices of bread.

Notes

Serving: one piece per dog per day for a 50 kg dog, thawed in the fridge overnight and laid over or torn through the kibble or even served frozen. My dogs just lick the frozen pieces like an ice-block. Each piece is about 70 calories (290 kJ). Ours get it over one cup of kibble, cut back from two cups to bring their weight down. For smaller dogs, cut 4 by 5 for 20 pieces of about 60 g per pan, or smaller again as a treat.

Why cooked: raw egg white contains avidin, which binds biotin. Cooking fixes that, so the whites need to be baked right through.

Sardines: I used sardines in oil or water, tipped in oil and all. Sardines in springwater work the same way and bring each piece down to about 60 calories. Avoid sardines in brine, which are too salty. The sardines carry close to half the calories in this recipe, so three tins is plenty.

Cabbage: keep it to the 300 g. More than that and you will know about it.

Eggs: goose and duck egg whites work the same as hen. Raw whites keep about 4 days in the fridge in a sealed container, or can be frozen raw until there is enough for a batch.

Storage: the baked pieces keep 2 to 3 months in the freezer. This batch lasts two large dogs 12 days.

Shape: thin and flat on purpose. Muffin or cube shapes are too easy for a big dog to swallow whole.