Scotch eggs are a classic pub snack and portable lunch item in their native land of Great Britain. They are less known in the U.S., but just as delicious. When I have extra pastured eggs on hand and am feeling a tad decadent, I've been known to serve these for dinner with a big crispy tossed green salad on the side and pints of ale for the adults.

I call for sausage below, but I usually make these by seasoning up ground pastured pork. If that appeals to you season 1 lb. of ground pork with about 1 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt, 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, and 2 cloves minced garlic. I've been known to toss in about 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika for a lovely smoky element to the entire dish.

Adventurous cooks may also want to play around with adding minced herbs or other seasonings to the bread crumbs.

See Also

How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs

How to Soft Boil Eggs

How to Poach Eggs

Ingredients

• 7 or 8 eggs
• About 1 lb. bulk or loose pork sausage
• About 1 cup bread crumbs
• Oil for frying

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes

• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: Makes 6 Scotch Eggs

Preparation

1. Put 6 of the eggs in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring just to a boil, cover the pan, take off the heat and let sit 11 minutes. While they sit, prepare a large bowl of ice water. Drain the eggs and put the in the ice water to thoroughly cool off for about 10 minutes. Peel the eggs and pat them dry.
2. Working with 1 egg and 1/6 of the sausage (about 2 1/2 ounces) at a time: If you're right-handed, hold the sausage in your left hand and use your right hand to pat it into a 1/4-inch thick oval. Set the egg in the center and pat the sides up and around the egg, using your fingers to seal any seams that occur. Gently smooth and pat the sausage into a more or less even layer around the egg. Set the wrapped egg aside and repeat with the remaining eggs and sausage.

1. Whisk the remaining egg in a medium bowl with about 1 Tbsp. of water. Put the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl or large plate with an edge. Set the coated eggs on the left with the whisked egg to their right, the bread crumbs to the right of that, and a clean plate on the far right.
2. Use your left hand to dip a coated egg in the whisked egg, rolling it around to fully coat it. Still using your left hand, lift the egg out of the egg, letting any extra egg drip off the sausage coating. Set it in the bread crumbs. Use your right (and dry) hand to coat it thoroughly with the crumbs and lift it over to the clean plate. Repeat with remaining eggs.
3. In a medium or large pot with high sides, heat enough oil to submerge the eggs (you can shallow-fry them and turn them to brown and cook them evenly, if you prefer) to 350°F to 375°F. Use a slotted spoon to lower the eggs into the oil - they should sizzle in a lively but not violent way immediately; no immediate sizzle means the oil isn't hot enough, too much sizzle means the temperature is too low. Cook until golden brown and sausage cooked through, about 3 minutes.

1. Use a slotted spoon to lift the eggs out of the oil. Drain on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet or on layers of paper towels. Let cool just a bit. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Scotch eggs are delicious with mustard, although I find that kids tend to like to dip theirs in ketchup. Some people may want more salt and pepper. Ale is the traditional drink, but whatever sounds good to you will probably taste good to you too!