Sage & Onion Christmas Scotch Eggs
These Christmas scotch eggs make a fantastic festive starter. There's jammy soft boiled eggs, sage & onion sausage meat and the crispiest breadcrumb coating.
Servings: 6 Scotch Eggs
Equipment
- Deep Fat Fryer
- Digital Food Probe
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
Sage & Onion Sausage Meat
- 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 1 Brown Onion (Finely Diced)
- 400 g Sausage Meat
- 1 Granny Smith Apple (Grated - No Need To Peel)
- 40 g Dried Cranberries (Roughly Chopped)
- 2 tsp Finely Chopped Sage
- 1 tsp Finely Chopped Thyme
Soft Boiled Eggs
- 6 Large Eggs (At Room Temperature)
- 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
- A Bowl Of Ice Water
To Pané
- 150 g Panko Breadcrumbs
- 40 g Plain Flour
- 3 Eggs
- 1 tbsp Milk
Instructions
Sage & Onion Sausage Meat
- First, add the veg oil into a small saucepan then set it over a medium heat & leave to heat up for a minute or two. Once hot, add in the diced onion & a pinch of salt then cook until soft. This will take 5 minutes or so.
- Once cooked, transfer the onions to a bowl & leave to cool completely.
- Next, add the sausage meat into a mixing bowl with the onions, grated apple, dried cranberries & chopped herbs. Season the meat with salt & pepper then mix well, to combine.
- Cook a small amount of the sausage meat in a frying pan then give it a taste to check the seasoning. Add in more salt & pepper as needed then chill the sausage meat in the fridge until needed.
Soft Boiled Eggs
- Fill a large saucepan with water then add in the vinegar. Cover the pan with a lid, set over a high heat then bring the water to a rolling boil.
- Carefully add the eggs into the boiling water then cook for 7 minutes, making sure that the water is at a rolling boil at all times.If you like a runnier egg yolk, boil the eggs for 6½ minutes.
- Once cooked, immediately add the eggs into a bowl of ice & cold water then leave to cool completely.
- Once the eggs are cool, carefully peel them & place onto a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Scotch Eggs
- Take the sausage meat out of the fridge & portion into 6 equally sized balls. Each should weigh around 90 grams.
- Next, flatten a portion of sausage meat into a 5mm thick disc, place an egg in the middle then mould the meat around it, to form a smooth ball. Repeat with the remaining sausage meat & eggs then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- To prepare the pané station, take 3 bowls, fill one with the breadcrumbs, one with the flour & the other with the eggs & milk. Beat the eggs with a fork then season each bowl with salt & pepper.
- To pané, first roll a scotch egg in the flour then dip into the beaten egg & roll in the breadcrumbs. Now, roll the scotch egg back in the beaten egg & then the breadcrumbs (double pané).
- Place the breadcrumbed scotch egg onto a tray then repeat the pané process with the remaining scotch eggs.
- Once all your scotch eggs have been breadcrumbed, place them in the fridge until you're ready to cook them.
Cooking
- Preheat a deep fat fryer to 160°c/320°f.
- To cook the scotch eggs, fry them in the hot oil for 8-10 minutes, flipping over occasionally until the breadcrumbs are crisp & golden and the meat has reached an internal temperature of 75°c/167°f.You might need to cook the scotch eggs in batches, depending on the size of your fryer. The scotch eggs can be kept warm in an oven between batches or served straight away.
- Once cooked, transfer the scotch eggs to a plate lined with kitchen paper then leave to drain for a minute.
- To serve, slice each scotch egg in half then season the yolk with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper.
Notes
1. Deep Fat Fryer - A deep fat fryer works best for cooking scotch eggs but if you haven't got one, you could use a pan of oil warmed up on the stove. Make sure to do this really carefully though!
2. Sausage Meat - Using a good sausage meat makes all the difference with scotch eggs. Make sure to cook a small amount off then taste after mixing, so that you can adjust the seasoning.
3. Eggs - You'll need to use large eggs for this recipe (63-73 grams in the shell), otherwise they might be over cooked.
4. Storage - Once breadcrumbed, the scotch eggs can be stored in the fridge for up to a day before being fried. Once cooked & cooled down, they'll keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. Scotch eggs won't be as good if reheated, so I'd recommend eating leftovers cold.