Few things can improve a picnic more than a homemade scotch egg – and they’re easier to make than you might think. These pickled walnut scotch eggs take just 35...
Few things can improve a picnic more than a homemade scotch egg – and they’re easier to make than you might think. These pickled walnut scotch eggs take just 35 minutes from start to finish. The sausagemeat is flavoured with parsley and nuggets of piquant pickled walnut, with a golden, fudgy egg yolk in the centre.
Bring a pan of water to the boil. Add 6 of the eggs, boil for 7 minutes, then drain and cool straightaway in cold (ideally iced) water. Peel once cool enough to handle.
Mix the walnuts, sausagemeat and parsley with a pinch of salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into 6 even balls. Flatten one of the balls in the palm of your hand, then put a peeled egg in the centre and gently work the meat around it until it’s completely covered (try to keep a consistent thickness all the way around). Repeat with the remaining sausage and eggs.
Heat the oven to 180ºC fan/gas 6 and bring a pan or deep-fat fryer of oil to 180ºC or heat until a cube of bread browns in 25 seconds or so. Put the flour on a wide plate, beat the remaining 2 eggs with a pinch of salt in a wide bowl and put the breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. One by one, roll the scotch eggs in the flour, then the egg, and lastly the breadcrumbs. Make sure they’re completely covered.
Fry the eggs in batches for 3-4 minutes until golden all over, allowing the oil to come back up to temperature in between each batch. Drain on kitchen paper, then finish in the oven on a baking tray for 5 minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes before serving warm, or enjoy at room temperature.