Primal Scotch Eggs
Although its reputation is improving, British food isn’t exactly known for being haute cuisine. Unpretentious comfort food is more like it. Some might argue that it’s a little bit too unpretentious – would a few more spices and a color scheme that wasn’t brown or beige really be so wrong? However, the lack of pretension is exactly what some find so charming about British food. This might explain why a traditional dish like Scotch Eggs is suddenly enjoying a new burst of popularity. It might also just be that a hardboiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and deep-fried until crispy is pure genius.
Really, what could be better for breakfast or an afternoon snack than a Scotch Egg? Let’s rephrase that…what could be better for breakfast or an afternoon snack than a Primal Scotch Egg? The difference is slight – a Primal Scotch Egg doesn’t roll around in flour and breadcrumbs before being fried. The result is an egg that’s slightly less crunchy on the outside but no less delicious because the ingredients that really matter – a creamy, smooth hardboiled egg and seasoned meat that’s cooked until crisp – are still intact.
If there’s a brand of store-bought sausage you love and trust, this recipe is even easier. If not, make your own sausage meat and season it how you like.
As for the frying, you can go all the way and deep-fry the egg into an extra-crispy golden nugget or instead, just pan-fry in a generous amount of oil. Pan-frying the Scotch Egg is the easier route since it involves less mess, although you might have to finish the egg off in the oven to make sure the sausage is cooked through.
With this recipe the Scotch egg, once just a staple of pubs and the lunchboxes of British schoolchildren, can now be a part of a Primal lifestyle, too.
Servings: 4 Scotch Eggs
Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 pound sausage meat
- Oil for frying
Instructions:
To hard boil the eggs, place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling rapidly, turn the heat off and cover the pot with a lid for 10 minutes.
Then transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. When cooled, peel the eggs.
Divide the sausage met into 4 equal portions.
Use your hands to form each portion of meat into a flat pancake a few inches wide. Wrap the meat around an egg, gently shaping it so there are no cracks and the egg is completely hidden.
For pan-frying, preheat the oven to 375. Then, pour just enough oil/fat into a deep pan to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat for 2-3 minutes over high heat on the stove until the oil is shimmering.
Cook two eggs at time. Roll the eggs around every few minutes in the oil so all sides of the meat become nicely browned. Cook each egg for about 8 minutes total.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 6-8 minutes more until the sausage is cooked through.
Eat the eggs warm or cold. Serve alone or with pickles, mayonnaise or hot sauce.
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Posted By: Worker Bee
How about freezing… advisable or not?
I am totally amazed at the reaction to our humble Scotch egg! I prefer a proper homemade burger with creative side salad personally. One of the difficulties with British food is that there are those who stick to a ‘meat and 2 veg’ philosophy which tends to produce a homogenous boring meal usually with gravy, hence the beige. My partner is like this and while I am colourful and Paleo in my diet, she is beige and boring – it’s a cross I have to bear!
This would make a nice compact breakfast to go. I am going to try it in the next couple of weeks
Traditionally, the eggs are served with mustard…and let me tell you there’s good reason behind it!
I was planning on making a sarcastic comment about international stereotypes about the food of my native land, but then I recalled the colour of the food I ate for supper yesterday. It was invariably mostly beige…
I am so trying these eggs for my Sunday’s breakfast. I’ve never even seen a recipe like this one. I’ve been looking for a cookbook for a while now, and after looking for a few month’s I’ve decided to get the primal cookbook. All the recipes that are posted here are always so delicious.
I made these with Italian sausage. Browned them on the outside in olive oil, then placed them in the oven baked them a bit longer. Literally amazeballs!
I’d like to comment that I’ve made these for years with my family (my mother is from the UK) and they are great.
For an added bonus.. add up some really really small chopped onion, garlic, carrot and various other spices (especially if you get the unflavored sausage).
and they fry up excellent in Olive Oil while topped with crushed almonds for that nutty finish!
Thank you to everyone who mentioned using egg and almond flour in the coating part of the recipe. Am I the only one who tried to pull off this recipe as written, only to wind up gnashing my teeth as the sausage slipped and crumbled off the hard-boiled egg? Grr! Arrgh!
These sound great. I think I’m going to try them on my smoker though. From reading a lot of the other posts, It appears that most of the folks have mis-read the original posting. Awfully defensive out there for taking it out of context I thinks! Are there any primal receipts to help thicken the skin!! LOL
I make these all the time…my local meat joint has some great homemade sausage. These are fabulous, and make a great easy breakfast for my daughter before school!
Try the Jimmy Deans ‘All Natural’ sausage. Has no MSG whereas all the other sausage(s) did, even the other Jimmy Deans varieties.
I handle the sausage with water moistened carving board and hands. your hands will naturally get greasy in the handling and it is much easier to get off the carving board surface.
I’d have to disagree on the ‘greener the better plantains are best’. They sweeten up and get creamier the darker the peels turn, but take care to not over ripen (peels dried).
Thanks for the tapioca flour and rice flour tips. The best tip was the chicharones – fried pig skins for that crispy effect.
I wonder if duck fat would be better than beef fat. I’ve made my own sausage using beef fat and the taste was flat and dry. Adding pork fat made a difference. .
I just make my own and I know for sure what goes into it! Great recipes.. love them.. great for breakfast
Its so easy to make your own sausage.
I have been looking at your website, and every time I look at it, I become more and more excited, for once a “diet” that I can probably stick to, that has answers to my questions, and I can eat sausages and Scotch eggs on
My fave, I have tried these scotch eggs, and OMG they are sooo delicious, I think I am seriously addicted to them!! My son who doesn’t really like egg, also likes to have one in his packed lunch for school! Thank you for giving me hope!
Check out our favourite UK blog – they made scotch eggs too and they’re hilarious!
http://www.modernpaleowarfare.com/2011/11/scotch-eggs-aka-narcissus-meatballs.html