Scotch egg recipe

As featured in Rick Stein’s Food Stories on BBC Two, this is Rick’s Scotch egg recipe – which he was inspired to create after a meeting with a very enthusiastic butcher in Bury Market. The combination of enjoyably fatty black pudding and traditional sausage meat are a fab pairing to encase the egg in before frying. A marvellous addition to a Ploughman’s lunch.

Ingredients for Rick’s scotch egg recipe

MAKES 6

• 6 medium eggs
• 400g sausage meat mixed with 200g black pudding or 600g sausage meat
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp veg oil
• Small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 100g plain flour
• 100g panko or dried white breadcrumbs
• 1 large or 2 medium eggs beaten
• 1 litre sunflower/vegetable oil
• Serve with piccalilli, mustard or chutney.

How to make Rick’s scotch egg recipe

1. Bring a pan of water to a boil and lower in the 6 eggs. Boil for 6-6 ½ mins depending on size, then immediately cool under cold running water until completely cold, peel and set them aside.
   
2. In a small pan, heat the tbsp of oil and gently fry the shallot until translucent and allow to cool. In a bowl, mix the sausage meat (and black pudding if using) add the chopped parsley and fried shallot, crushed fennel seeds and season with salt and pepper and mix well.
   
3. Get three plates set up, one with flour, one with beaten egg and one with breadcrumbs. Lightly flour the hard boiled eggs, then divide the sausage meat into 6 balls flatten one in your palm and add the egg and use your hands to shape the sausage meat around the egg. Repeat with the remaining 5 eggs. Roll each one in flour, then beaten egg, and finally in breadcrumbs.
   
4. Heat the oil in a fairly narrow, deep pan to 160c, lower the eggs in one at a time using a slotted spoon and cook for 8-10 minutes until they are deep golden brown and crisp.
   
5. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with piccalilli, chutney or mustard as part of a ploughman’s lunch with cheese, bread and pickled onions.

Happy cooking