Vegetarian Scotch Egg

Serves: To make 4 Scotch Eggs

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ready In: 30 mins

Ingredients

5 medium-sized - eggs

1 tablespoon - plain flour (all purpose flour)

8 - 10 slices - soft white bread

3 sprigs - flat leaf parsley

10 - 15 stems - chives

  - salt and pepper

  - vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Place 4 of the eggs in a pan and cover completely with cold water. Heat over a high heat until boiling then reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes. Cool in cold water before removing the shells.
2. Whisk the remaining egg. Finely chop the parsley and chives. Cut the crusts off the bread and crumble the remaining white bread between your fingers to make small breadcrumbs (if you have a food processor, you can use the chopper attachment for this, but don't chop the bread too fine). Combine the chopped herbs with the breadcrumbs and season with salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste. Gently roll each boiled egg in flour, then the whisked egg mixture then the breadcrumbs. Shape the breadcrumbs onto the egg with your hands.
3. Put the oil in a pan to a depth of 2" (5cm) and heat. Fry the eggs over a medium-high heat, turning regularly, for about 3-4 minutes until golden all over. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and place on a baking tray in a preheated moderate oven (Mk 3 - 325ºF - 170ºC) for about 5 minutes to cook right through.