scotch eggs

this was a bit mad, even by my standards of wasting time in the kitchen.

i have no idea what possessed me to try making scotch eggs. must have seen a picture somewhere and fancied trying them out. i justified it by thinking i'd make use of the two lonely sausages sitting in the freezer (two sausages is neither here nor there, really - perfect for a solitary weekend breakfast but those are thankfully quite rare. and two sausages between two people...well, you may as well not bother).

i used to find the idea of scotch eggs hilarious. i mean, what's the point? why not take a boiled egg and a sausage and eat them separately? you could take a bite of each at the same time if you really fancied the eggsausage taste?

seventeen years later, i think a scotch egg is a marvellous invention. they look great (an egg? inside a sausage? brilliant!) and taste even better - what's not to like?

i have to say my version is probably not as good as the good shop-bought stuff but i make no apologies for that. for a start, these are not full of crap. and, if you watching calories, they are not deep fried. though i think i will fry them next time, purely for aesthetic reasons.

in terms of quantities, i think you're looking at one sausage per egg though, if you were patient and could be bothered to roll out the sausage meat thinly, you could do more. if you have spare boiled eggs, they'll be fine in the fridge for a few days - just eat them as a cold snack.

if you don't make a larger quantity, you'll have some beaten egg left - i used it to batter aubergines and courgettes as it's a shame to waste it. those could make a nice addition to your picnic fodder.

SCOTCH EGGS

2 eggs
2 sausages
a handful of chopped thyme
a handful of chopped parsley
1tsp chilli flakes

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup of so of coarsely ground almonds or just ground almonds out of a packet

put the eggs in cold water, bring to the boil and boil for 9 minutes. i have no idea why 9 minutes exactly but that's what every recipe for scotch eggs says so it must be right. run under cold water, then peel. leave to cool a little.

now cover a chopping board with clingfilm and tear off another piece the same size. do this now before your hands are covered with goo. take the sausagemeat out of casing and, with your hands, mix in the parsley, thyme and chilli. shape it into 2 (or three, or however many eggs you're using) balls and flatten each ball a little. put it between two pieces of clingfilm and roll into a thin circle with a rolling pin.

make sure the eggs are dry - you can even dust them with a bit of flour to make sure the sausage meat sticks better. then encase each egg in the sausage circle, sealing all the edges carefully and thoroughly.

spread the almonds on a plate. dip each egg into egg (oooh) and roll into the almonds so it's covered on all sides.

now either place on a baking tray and cook for about 30 minutes on 180-190C (keep checking that the casing doesn't look too burnt) or fry in some olive oil.