Veggie Scotch Egg with Lentil, Mushroom and Quinoa filling

Billy has suggested that, after taking an age to do these Scotch Eggs, I should do a TV show. Not all this 'Jamie's 15 minute meals' stuff. But instead, 'Kay's Three Hour Meals'. For some reason it took an age and I blame the eggs. Having said that though, I always take an age to cook and create a huge amount of washing up at the end of it. 

Anyway, about ten years ago when Delia had a show on TV, she dedicated an entire show to the cooking of a simple egg and I sneered at it. In the last 5 years, however, I have come realise she could have made an entire series about the humble egg. It took patience doing this dish but it was well worth it in the end. And, I would say you should definitely listen to Delia for advice on cooking eggs.

I was away last weekend in Devon for my cousin Hannah's 21st Birthday and after driving back with a stinking hangover through the snow, I couldn't make a meal. But this weekend, I've made my first attempt at a Veggie Scotch Egg- with the added challenge of making sure the yolk in the middle was runny. It should have been easy but who would have thought it'd take so long to peel the shells off the soft boiled eggs. There must be a better way to do this but if like me you're a bit unlucky, have patience while deshelling the eggs. The rest of it is easy and won't take too long.

First get four large free range eggs and let them boil in simmering water for 6 and a half to 7 minutes. Then run under cold water, let them cool and deshell them. There has to be better ways of doing this than I did but I did get there eventually.

While the eggs are cooling, fry half a red onion and some finely chopped mushrooms with garlic, herbs and seasoning. I am terrible at keeping any plant alive but for some reason I am able to grow parsley and have an abundance of it growing on the balcony in an old bike basket. So this was the herb of choice this evening.

I bought a ready to eat puy lentil and quinoa mix from Waitrose (obviously you can cook the lentils and quinoa yourself. I hadn't realised it was pre-cooked but in fact that made things all the more easy). So I added this 250g pack to my mushrooms and onions and let them cook for a further few minutes to let the flavours come together.

Blend and you should end up with a fairly solid mixture. Not too wet.

Then the fun part...

Cover them in seasoned flour. I seasoned it with just salt and pepper.

Whilst someone plays guitar to you (in this case Billy Jones) prepare your two bowls: one with 2 beaten  eggs and one with breadcrumbs for the outer layer.

Roll out your lentil mixture (covering the board with a bit of flour so it doesn't glue itself to the board) and roughly score into 4 equal sections and wrap it around your egg shaping it into a good ball shape.

Cover each egg in the beaten eggs mix and then coat generously with breadcrumbs. You might want to do this twice in order to get a good thick outer layer which will crisp up better.

Then in a pan of hot vegetable oil ( I had about 2 cm of oil in there but 4cm would be better) fry the eggs for around 6-7 minutes until they are a nice golden colour. If like me you do them with less oil, make sure you turn them half way so the entire outer later is nice and cooked.

Once cooked, place on some kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil. Let them cool for a few minutes and serve with some mustard, a radish salad and half a pint of larger!

My ingredients (which make 4 Scotch Eggs)

6 large free range eggs (2 to beat in order to stick on the outer breadcrumbs)

Half an onion

1 clove of garlic

Glug of olive oil to fry onions, garlic and mushrooms

8 chestnut mushrooms

250g puy lentils and quinoa

Flour

Breadcrumbs (around 100g)

Parsley and seasoning to your own taste. I used salt, pepper and Italian dried herbs.

Vegetable oil to fry the eggs (500ml to 1L needed).

Radishes and mustard to serve if you fancy