Scotch Eggs

Picnic basket with Scotch Eggs

I was talking with friends who were on their way to Scotland. We had a whole discussion of how to make haggis, a traditional Scotch dish. My assignment for them while they were in Scotland was to find out whether Scotch Eggs really is a Scottish recipe and the answer is yes! So here this week we have a recipe for Scotch Eggs which is traditionally served as hard-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage and then baked.

You can make them in a regular oven, a convection oven or an air fryer. The bottom line is that they are easy, portable and make great appetizers (try quail eggs for that if you can get them).

Variations

  • Soft-boiled eggs

  • Pork sausage or ground beef

  • Wrap each Scotch egg in bacon

  • Toppings described below

Ingredients

4 eggs, hard-boiled or soft-boiled

1 pound sausage (no sugar added or make your own) or ground beef

Optional toppings: crushed pork rinds (flavored or plain), dried minced onion, parsley flakes or fresh chopped parsley, grated parmesan cheese, almond meal — anything you want, really! This recipe is so low in carbs you can splurge a little if you choose onions, parsley or a dusting of almond meal. You may even want to try wrapping each egg in bacon before baking or sprinkle on crumbled cooked bacon!

More about Sausage seasonings

There is no magic about sausage. It is just meat and seasonings — either make your own from ground pork or beef or buy ready-made but make sure there is no sugar in it.

The original Scotch Egg recipe calls for traditional sausage seasonings (salt, paprika, black pepper, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, sage and thyme). However, feel free to use any seasonings you like if you make your own sausage, including Italian, Indian or Mexican seasonings.

Directions

  1. Hard boil eggs. Peel and set aside.

  2. Make four balls with the meat, flatten into circles.

  3. Place one egg in the center of each circle.

  4. Close the meat around each egg and pat until evenly distributed.

  5. Put in the refrigerator 30–60 minutes or more (you can skip this step, but it helps hold the meat better when you bake the eggs).

  6. Before putting the eggs in the oven roll them in (or sprinkle on) any toppings you would like.

  7. Put the eggs on a baking sheet and bake 20–30 minutes at 350 degrees.