Scottish Eggs

serves 6

On my list to conquer winter 2021. This picture is from the one’s served by Giusto in Newport, RI. They.are.so.good.

Giusto’s Scottish Eggs

I kinda winged it, using what I knew from Giusto and then following the recipe from Chef John. The result was good and I learned a lot about what to do and not do. My recommendation is to do all the prep work ahead of time when you are not in a rush and can enjoy it. I made the mistake of starting this at 5:30pm thinking we’d be eating by 6:30 lol. I also thought that this was going to be just a starter and that we’d have pasta for the main meal. We were all full after eating 1, and in hubby’s case, 2 eggs.

This is the result of my first attempt 11/2/20
Ingredients
  • 6 eggs
  • 21 ounces of meatloaf mix, which is a blend of beef, pork and veal, or try using sweet Italian sausage recommended by Chef John. I used the meatloaf mix for mine. What you’d get using the sweet Italian sausage is the fennel flavor coming through, but I did not miss this in my preparation.
    • salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
    • [optional] fresh ground dry garlic
    • ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
    • 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg ← I just happened to have this else I would have skipped it
    • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • Used for frying prep
    • 2 eggs beaten
    • ½ cup all-purpose flour, or as needed
    • 1 cup Panko bread crumbs, or as needed
  • Canola oil for deep frying – you need enough to cover the eggs completely as they fry
  • For serving
    • Grated parmesan cheese
    • Parsley for garnish
Instructions
  • First, I recommend watching Chef John’s video before jumping in, I wish I had.
  • Second, after watching the video, I learned that you can do the bulk of the prep work up until the day before and store the fry-ready eggs in the refrigerator. I also wish that I had known that. If you do that, then this becomes something you can throw together pretty quickly just before you eat.
  • What you can do ahead of time
    • Egg prep
      • Fill a saucepan with 1/2-inch water; bring to a boil.
      • Carefully place cold eggs into saucepan, cover the saucepan with a lid, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook until eggs yolks are soft, about 6 minutes.
      • Remove from heat and pour cold water over eggs to halt the cooking process.
      • Cool eggs to room temperature in cold water
      • Peel and dry eggs on paper towels ← I struggled with this and broke 2 eggs badly, I salvaged them by putting the broken eggs in their own small little “bowls” to keep them together as much as possible.
    • Meat prep
      • Mix sausage, salt, pepper, garlic, mustard, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl.
      • Shape into 6 equal-size balls.
    • If you are going to make your own marinara sauce, you can also do that ahead of time
    • Prepping the eggs for frying
      • Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on a flat work surface, 18-20″.
      • Place 1 ball of sausage mixture into the center of the plastic wrap (ball should be egg shaped and be larger than the egg), fold the plastic wrap over sausage, and flatten into an 1/8-inch thick oval shape.
      • Pull plastic wrap back and place 1 egg in the center of the sausage. Pick up plastic wrap, moisten fingertips, and press sausage around egg to cover completely, sealing sausage around egg. Repeat with remaining eggs and sausage. ← I struggled with this too. Keeping fingers wet is key.
      • Place bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Pour flour into another shallow bowl. Beat remaining 2 eggs in another shallow bowl.
      • Gently press eggs into flour to coat; shake off excess flour.
      • Dip eggs into the beaten egg, then press into bread crumbs.
      • Place the breaded eggs onto a plate.
      • At this point you can stop and store the covered eggs in the refrigerator
  • What to do when you are ready to cook
    • Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350
    • Warm up your marinara sauce to have handy
    • Working in batches, cook eggs in the preheated oil until golden, 5 to 6 minutes ← I did 5 minutes and that should have been plenty of time, however I didn’t press all the meatballs flat enough so some were still a little pink. Next time I will try 6 minutes.
    • Transfer to a wire rack to cool, at least 5 minutes.
    • Serve with marinara sauce
    • Garnish with fresh parsley and grated parmesan cheese
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