Vegetarian Scotch eggs recipe

Vegetarian Scotch eggs use shop-bought veggie sausages to make the sausage layer easy to make, and gives it great texture.

These are such a picnic classic, but we love them all summer long, and they're also one of our favourite buffet food ideas. This recipe uses rosemary and red onion vegetarian sausages from Linda McCartney (available in most supermarkets) but feel free to try experimenting with other veggie sausages. Just make sure they have a firm, (faux-)meaty texture, and not too high a vegetable content, or the result will be too soft. The trick to getting really orange yolks is buying the best free range eggs you can find. We love Heritage Breeds and Clarence Court for their lovely yolks. We left our yolks a little soft, but if you want them firmer, or softer, just adjust the boiling time accordingly.

Ingredients

• 7 free-range eggs, 1 beaten
• 6 frozen vegetarian sausages, defrosted (we used Linda McCartney Red Onion & Rosemary)
• ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 bunch each of parsley, chives and sage

To coat: 

• 75g flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 150g panko breadcrumbs

Method

1. Add 6 eggs to a pan of water, bring to the boil, then cook for 6 mins. Cool and chill.
2. Blitz the sausages, mustard, herbs and beaten egg in a food processor.
3. Lay double sheets of clingfilm, about 20cm square, on a flat surface, and spread 1/6 of the sausage mixture over. Top with a whole boiled egg and wrap clingfilm tightly to coat and seal egg. Repeat with remaining sausage mix and eggs. Chill in the freezer for 20 mins.
4. Remove the film and roll the coated eggs into spheres. Roll in flour, then beaten egg, then panko breadcrumbs. Fry in a deep pan filled to 8-10cm with oil, heated to 160C, for 4-5 mins until golden.

Top Tip for making Vegetarian Scotch eggs

Store your homemade vegetarian Scotch eggs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.

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