Frankly, it’s hard to produce a healthy rendering of a Scotch egg. But we decided to give it a go, because these delicious little calorie bombs are just too tempting.
For anyone not familiar with them, a Scotch egg is a hard-boiled egg that is coated in sausage, then deep-fried.
If you don’t like frying, we found they’re just as tasty baked.
Baking the eggs in a very hot oven worked nicely, producing a perfectly crisp outer coating without overcooking the tender egg inside.
Baked Scotch Eggs
Start to finish: 1 hour
Servings: 6
7 eggs, divided
1 pound loose breakfast sausage meat
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
Salt and ground black pepper
Place six eggs in a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover the eggs by one inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and remove the pan from the heat. Allow to sit for eight minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water until chilled.
Divide the sausage into six equal patties, using about 1/3 cup each, then set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining egg with the flour until smooth. Place the panko in another small bowl.
When the eggs are cool, heat the oven to 450 F. Carefully remove the egg shells and use paper towels to blot dry the eggs. One at a time, place each egg on one of the sausage patties. Use your hands to flatten and wrap the sausage around the egg until completely enclosed in sausage.
Dip each sausage-covered egg first in the beaten egg, then in the panko. Mist each egg with cooking spray and arrange them on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and the sausage is cooked through. Serve immediately.
