Scotch Eggs
Everyone loves a good Scotch egg at the pub. Well they certainly do in London anyway. Never afraid of a challenge I decided I was going to give this British tradition a good old Aussie go! To be honest I was actually quite nervous. It looked to me to be a sure recipe for failure.
But HAZZAH! It was an astounding success. Although rather time-consuming, they are easy to make and are sure to impress.
I made both the traditional pork variety and a veggie, which controversially I actually think was the better of the two. The colouring from the beetroot made them look quite stunning.
Scotch eggs
Ingredients
- 4 large free-range eggs
- 275g sausage meat
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 spring onion, very finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100g plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 125g breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
Method
- Bring a pan of water to the boil.
- Carefully place the eggs in the boiling water and boil for exactly 7 minutes.
- Drain and cool the eggs in a bowl of cold running water, then peel.
- Mix the sausage meat with the thyme, parsley and spring onion in a bowl and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Place the seasoned flour onto a plate, then roll each boiled egg in the flour.
- Wrap the sausage meat around each egg. Make sure the coating is smooth and completely covers each egg.
- Dip each sausage meat-coated egg in the beaten egg, rolling to coat completely, then dip and roll into the breadcrumbs to completely cover.
- Half-fill a deep, heavy-based pan with the vegetable oil and heat until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. Be careful not to heat too high. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
- Carefully place each scotch egg into the hot oil with a slotted spoon and deep-fry for 6-8 minutes, until golden and crisp.
- Carefully remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
- Serve cool with English mustard or chilli jam.
Veggie Scotch eggs
Ingredients
- 4 free-range eggs
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- knob of butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 400g canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained, blended to a paste in a food processor
- 1 raw beetroot, peeled, grated
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 100g plain flour
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
- 125g breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
Method
- Bring a pan of water to the boil.
- Carefully place the eggs in the boiling water and boil for exactly 7 minutes.
- Drain and cool the eggs in a bowl of cold running water, then peel.
- Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan. When the butter is foaming add the onion, carrot, garlic and chilli flakes and fry until the onion is softened.
- Place the chickpea purée into a bowl. Add the fried ingredients and mix well.
- Add the beetroot and thyme and season very well with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Roll the eggs in the flour.
- Wrap the chickpea mixture around each of the boiled eggs, making sure there are no gaps and mould into balls.
- Roll the coated eggs in the beaten egg, then roll in the breadcrumbs to coat completely.
- Half-fill a deep, heavy-based pan with the vegetable oil and heat until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it. Be careful not to heat too high. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.)
- Carefully add the coated eggs to the hot oil and deep-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
- Serve cold with English mustard or chilli jam.