Traditional Scotch Eggs Recipes

SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Divide the sausage into six portions; flatten and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Shape each portion around a peeled hard-boiled egg. Roll in beaten egg, then in cornflake crumbs. Place on a rack in a baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, turning every 10 minutes.

THE BEST HOMEMADE SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Put six of the eggs into a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for five minutes, then put straight into a large bowl of iced water for at least 10 minutes.
• Put the meat, herbs, mace and mustard into a bowl, season and mix well with your hands. Divide into six.
• Carefully peel the eggs. Beat the two raw eggs together in a bowl with a splash of milk. Put the flour in a second bowl and season, then tip the breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Arrange in an assembly line.
• Put a square of clingfilm on the worksurface, and flour lightly. Put one of the meatballs in the centre, and flour lightly, then put another square of cling film on top. Roll out the meat until large enough to encase an egg and remove the top sheet of clingfilm.
• To assemble the egg, roll one peeled egg in flour, then put in the centre of the meat. Bring up the sides of the film to encase it, and smooth it into an egg shape with your hands. Dip each egg in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, then egg and then breadcrumbs.
• Fill a large pan a third full of vegetable oil, and heat to 325F, 170C (or when a crumb of bread sizzles and turns golden, but does not burn, when dropped in it). Cook the eggs a couple at a time, for seven minutes, until crisp and golden, then drain on kitchen paper before serving.

CHEF JOHN'S SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Fill a saucepan with 1/2-inch water; bring to a boil. Carefully place cold eggs into saucepan, cover the saucepan with a lid, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until eggs yolks are soft, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and pour cold water over eggs to halt the cooking process. Cool eggs to room temperature in cold water; peel and dry eggs on paper towels.
• Mix sausage, mustard, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl. Shape into 6 equal-size balls.
• Lay a piece of plastic wrap on a flat work surface. Place 1 ball of sausage mixture into the center of the plastic wrap, fold the plastic wrap over sausage, and flatten into an 1/8-inch thick oval shape. Pull plastic wrap back and place 1 egg in the center of the sausage. Pick up plastic wrap, moisten fingertips, and press sausage around egg to cover completely, sealing sausage around egg. Repeat with remaining eggs and sausage.
• Place bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Pour flour into another shallow bowl. Beat remaining 2 eggs in another shallow bowl.
• Gently press eggs into flour to coat; shake off excess flour. Dip eggs into the beaten egg, then press into bread crumbs. Gently toss between your hands so any bread crumbs that haven't stuck can fall away. Place the breaded eggs onto a plate.
• Working in batches, cook eggs in the preheated oil until golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, at least 5 minutes.

PROPER SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Put 8 eggs into a pan of cold water and bring to the boil. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer to a bowl of cold water. Once cooled, carefully peel them.
• Squeeze the sausages out of their skins and into a bowl.
• Pick and finely chop the herb leaves, add to the sausage meat along with a good grating of nutmeg, the mustard and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Give it all a good mix together then divide into 8 balls.
• Have 3 plates ready - one with a small handful of flour, one with the two remaining eggs (beat them together first), and a third with the breadcrumbs.
• Start by flouring your hands, then in the palm of one hand, flatten one of the sausage balls into an oval-shaped pattie.
• Roll a peeled egg in flour, then pop it in the middle of the patty Gently shape the meat evenly around the egg, moulding it with your hands until sealed.
• Roll the meat-wrapped egg in the flour, shake off any excess, then dip into the beaten egg, followed by the breadcrumbs. Roll in the egg and breadcrumbs again for a really good coating.
• Heat the oil in a deep pan or deep fat fryer to about 150ºC/300ºF. If you have a cooking thermometer it's a good idea to use it. Otherwise, test if the oil is hot enough by adding a piece of raw potato and leaving it for about 1 minute - if it sizzles and browns, it's ready.
• Carefully lower the eggs into the pan and cook for 4 minutes, or until golden, turning them every so often. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper (if you're worried about the meat being under-cooked, deep-fry the scotch eggs until they're golden and crispy, then pop them in a hot oven for a couple of minutes.)
• Cool the Scotch eggs slightly, then arrange on board with a good piece of Scottish Cheddar, some pickle and a few pickled onions. Heaven.

BAKED SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, mix pork sausage, onion and salt. Shape mixture into 4 equal patties.
• Roll each hard-cooked egg in flour to coat; place on sausage patty and shape sausage around egg. Dip each into beaten egg; coat with bread crumbs to cover completely. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 35 minutes or until sausage is thoroughly cooked and no longer pink near egg.

EASY SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Bring a pan of salted water to a rapid boil, then lower four of the eggs into the pan and simmer for 7 mins 30 secs exactly. Scoop out and place in a bowl of iced water, cracking the shells a little (this makes them easier to peel later). Leave them to cool completely, then peel and set aside. Can be boiled the day before.
• Put the sausagemeat, pepper, ham, stuffing and herbs in a small bowl, mix to combine, then divide into four equal balls. Squash one of the balls between a piece of cling film until it's as flat as possible. One at a time, lightly flour each cooked egg, then use the cling film to help roll the sausagemeat around the egg to completely encase. Repeat with the remaining sausageballs and eggs.
• Beat the remaining egg and put on a plate. Put the flour and breadcrumbs on two separate plates. Roll the encased eggs in the flour, then the beaten egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Can be prepared up to a day in advance.
• To cook the eggs, heat 5cm of the oil in a wide saucepan or wok until it reaches 160C on a cooking thermometer or until a few breadcrumbs turn golden after 10 secs in the oil. Depending on the size of your pan, lower as many eggs as you can into the oil, and cook for 8-10 mins until golden and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper, leave to cool a little, then serve halved with some piccalilli.

DELIA SMITH'S TRADITIONAL SCOTCH EGGS WITH FRESH HERBS

Steps:

• Hard-boil the eggs by covering them in cold water, bringing it to the boil, simmering gently for 9 minutes and cooling them under cold running water.
• Next, mix the sausage meat with the spring onions and herbs and season well. Then shell the cooled eggs and coat each one with some seasoned flour.
• Divide the sausage meat into four portions and pat each piece out on a floured surface to a shape of roughly 5 x 3 inches (13 x 7.5 cm). Now place an egg in the center of each piece and carefully gather up the sausage meat to cover the egg completely. Seal the joins well, and smooth and pat into shape all over.
• Next, coat them one by one, first in beaten egg and then thoroughly and evenly in the breadcrumbs.
• Now heat 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) of oil in a deep frying pan up to a temperature of 350-375 degrees F (180-190 degrees C). (If you don't have a thermometer, you can easily test the temperature by frying a small cube of bread- if it turns golden brown within a minute, the oil is hot enough). Put the eggs into the oil and fry for 6-8 minutes, turning frequently until they have turned a nice brown color. Drain on crumpled silicone paper (parchment), or paper towels.
• Serve warm or cold. May be served whole, or halved. Good with mustard or chutney, for dipping.

EASY SCOTCH EGG

Steps:

• Place eggs in a pot with enough water to cover them.
• Place over medium-high heat and cook for 5-12 minutes depending on how you like your eggs. From runny to hard-boiled.
• Place boiled eggs in a bowl of cold water and leave to cool down. Peel eggs, and set aside.
• Into the sausage meat, add salt and chilli powder. Mix and set aside. If using sausage links just remove the wrapping and mash up the meat with your hands.
• In 3 separate bowls, place flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.
• Dry eggs with paper towels, roll in flour, dust hands in flour and wrap eggs in sausage meat.
• Roll scotch egg in beaten eggs then roll in breadcrumbs.
• You can double dip, roll in beaten eggs then in breadcrumbs again.
• Heat up your vegetable oil in a deep frying pan or fryer.
• When hot, using a slotted spoon carefully lower your eggs into the oil and fry for 8 minutes until golden brown.
• Serve hot, warm or cold with hot sauce, mayonnaise or spicy ketchup, a salad and potatoes.

SCOTCH EGGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Place eggs in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs sit in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, cool and peel.
• Flatten the sausage and make a patty to surround each egg. Very lightly flour the sausage and coat with beaten egg. Roll in bread crumbs to cover evenly.
• Deep fry until golden brown, or pan fry while making sure each side is well cooked. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
• Cut in half and serve over a bed of lettuce and sliced tomatoes for garnish. If mustard is desired it looks beautiful over this.