Go to any trendy pub in North America these days and you’ll likely find Scotch Eggs on the menu. Served hot with some sort of artisan sauce, the yolk is still runny inside when you cut into it. They are delicious, and a favourite snack of mine. Before this recent “elevation” of the dish they were a normal part of life in the UK. We had them in school dinners, served hot with baked beans and potatoes or cold as a snack or picnic food. You can still find Scotch eggs sold in the “to go” section of the local supermarket or petrol (gas) station in England.
Today I’m going to focus on the picnic version of the egg. A hard boiled egg surrounded by sausage meat or a cheese mixture. I fondly remember the cheese scotch eggs from school years but not many people seem to have heard of them. It took time to find a recipe and was a little shocked to find it in a “Vintage” recipe collection. Then I remembered what a fine vintage I am and got down to business. You can find the original cheese egg recipe here on a site dedicated to old recipes. I have made a couple of changes to it.
Level Up
You can make this as easy or hard as you want to. The easiest is to get store bought sausage meat and seasoned bread crumbs then it’s really just a case of assembly. If you want to increase the difficulty and experiment with flavours you can make your own sausage meat and breadcrumbs.
In this recipe I am using homemade sausage meat left over from making sausages. I haven’t given the recipe here because it is a work in progress. I’m sure I’ll share it in the future. The bread crumbs however are store bought and already seasoned. I’m also baking my eggs rather than deep drying.
Ingredients
Makes 4 sausage & 4 cheese eggs Oven temp 350F/175C Prep 20 mins Bake 30 mins
Sausage Eggs:
- 4 eggs
- water for boiling
- 500g sausage meat
- 3/4 cups bread crumbs
- additional herbs and spices if required
- 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of milk
Cheese Eggs:
- 4 eggs
- water for boiling
- 2 cups of grated cheese (extra old/sharp cheddar or other strong flavoured cheese)
- 6 tablespoons of flour
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 6 tablespoons of milk
- salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of milk
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Method
Sausage
- Boil the eggs in water until just hard. I put my eggs in cold water, bring to boil and cook on a simmer for 6 minutes. I then drain them and cover with cold water to cool.
- Shell eggs once cool
- Prepare sausage meat by adding any desired seasoning.
- Divide equally into 4
- Take one portion of the mixture and flatten it into a disc then form into a sort of bowl.
- Place an egg into the centre and gently work the sausage meat around until it completely covers the egg.
- Roll it gently in the palm of your hand and check for gaps or holes that need to be pinched closed.
- Roll the sausage covered egg in the bread crumbs
- Dip into egg & milk mixture, coating all sides
- Roll in bread crumbs again
- Place on a clean plate.
- Repeat steps 5 to 11 with the remaining eggs
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (175C)
- Lightly grease an oven dish or tray
- Cook in oven for 30 mins, turning once.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely.
- Pack in a air tight container and store in the fridge (max 3 days) until you set off on your picnic.
Cheese
- Follow steps 1 & 2 above
- To prepare the cheese coating, combine the cheese, flour and spices in a bowl.
- Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you form a dough that holds together but is not wet.
- Divide the dough into 4 and then follow steps 5 to 17 above.
Notes
I over cooked my eggs. Probably by not cooling them quickly enough after they came off the stove. There are many different methods for how to boil eggs. I’m not an expert. This site has good clear instructions if you want to know more: https://thestayathomechef.com/how-to-boil-eggs/
I find the sausage/cheese mixture to be sticky enough that you don’t need any egg mixture for the first coat of crumbs to stick.
Pack the cheese into the cups when measuring to ensure sufficient cheesiness!
So there you have it. A vintage picnic recipe that is just as delicious today. If you want to eat them hot, straight from the oven, I recommend soft boiling the eggs by reducing the egg boiling time by 2 minutes and putting them straight into an ice bath when the time is up. You have to be extra careful when shelling the eggs and covering them with the coating but otherwise the process is the same.
I like to eat mine with a bit of mustard or mayonnaise but you can also serve with a curry dip or marinara sauce.
Next time I’ll be making a picnic treat with a compostable handle.
Until then, stay safe and enjoy the sunshine at an acceptable social distance.
Will definitely try the cheese version, never had them before. I really like scotch eggs !