The Original Scotch Egg from Fortnum & Mason

Who: Tom Parker Bowles

Instagram: @Fortnums

Tom’s Guest-Worthy Recipe: The Original Scotch Egg from Fortnum & Mason

Why?

In celebration of World Egg Day, which took place on October 11, Fortnum & Mason is taking a look back at the Scotch Egg, invented in 1738 by the beloved English purveyor of tea, snacks, and everything else under the sun.

Ingredients:

650g sausage meat

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried sage

1 clove garlic (crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt)

1 small shallot (very finely chopped)

10 medium eggs

100g plain flour

100g breadcrumbs (preferably Japanese panko crumbs)

Vegetable oil (for deep-frying)

50g micro cress

Directions

1. Put the sausage meat in a bowl, add the spices, salt, dried herbs, garlic, and shallot and mix well. To test the seasoning, take a teaspoonful of the mixture and fry it until cooked through. Taste it, then adjust the seasoning of the remaining mixture, if necessary.

2. Add eight of the eggs to a large pan of gently simmering water and cook for six minutes. Drain and leave under cold running water until they are completely cold. Peel off the shells.

3. Divide the sausage meat into eight portions, weighing them for accuracy, if you like — they should be about 80g each. Roll out each one between two sheets of cling film so that it is big enough to wrap round an egg. Lightly flour the eggs, then wrap each one in a piece of sausage meat, rolling it up in the cling film as you go and making sure that it is evenly covered, without any gaps. Twist the ends of the cling film tightly to help shape the eggs.

4. Put the remaining eggs in a shallow bowl and beat together. Put the remaining flour in another bowl and the breadcrumbs in a third. Remove the cling film, then dip the Scotch eggs first in flour, then in beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs, patting them on well with your hands.

5. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or a large, deep saucepan to 350 degrees (if you use a saucepan, don’t fill it more than a third full, or you risk it boiling over). Add the Scotch eggs to the hot oil, cooking them in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Fry for seven to eight minutes, until they are a deep golden brown, then drain well on kitchen paper (the sausage meat should be cooked right through, but if you find that it isn’t, put the eggs in a moderate oven for three to four minutes to complete the cooking). Serve warm, garnished with the micro cress.