Christmas Scotch egg recipe

These Christmas Scotch eggs are a play on the classic picnic treat, but with a festive twist - replacing the traditional sausage meat layer with a sage and onion stuffing.

They're a great way to use up leftover stuffing, mash, eggs, and even bread and they make a perfect snack or lunchtime treat with a salad. If you want to make them for a party, try using tiny quail's eggs instead to get a canapé-size mouthful. These amounts should be enough for half a dozen quail eggs and they're even suitable for your vegetarian guests. Serve them with cranberry sauce for people to dip them in, to make them even more Christmassy.

Ingredients

• 400g sage and onion breadcrumb stuffing
• 4 medium eggs, soft boiled, peeled and cooled
• 700g dry mashed potato
• 60g plain flour
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 150g dried breadcrumbs
• 400ml vegetable oil for frying

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5.
2. For each egg: take a quarter of the stuffing and flatten on a work surface, use a fish slice to loosen into one piece. Put the egg in the middle and mould the stuffing around it to cover it completely.
3. Again, for each egg: take a quarter of the mash and flatten on a work surface, use a fish slice to loosen into one piece. Put a stuffing covered egg in the middle and mould the mash around it until it’s totally covered.
4. Put the flour in one bowl, the beaten eggs in another and the breadcrumbs in a third. One at a time, dip the covered eggs in flour, dusting off the excess. Then dip in the egg to fully coat. Finally dip in the breadcrumbs and press lightly all over to get a good coat.
5. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan until hot, test with a pinch of leftover mash, it should turn golden but not burnt. Turn down if you need to. One at a time add an egg, brown on all sides for 1-2 mins then set on a baking tray. Once all the eggs are browned put in the oven for around 6-8 mins to heat through.

Top tips for making Christmas Scotch eggs

This recipe is best made and eaten on the same day.

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