There have been some wonderful twists to the traditional recipe. My favourite tweak has been to add a sprinkle of black pudding on the inside with the sausage meat.

Ingredients

Makes 4

4 large eggs

500g good-quality sausage meat

100g black pudding

3 tbsp BBQ dry rub of your choice

BBQ sauce of your choice, to glaze (optional)

Method

RECOMMENDED HEAT

Set up a BBQ for gentle direct heat at 140°C (285°F ) with the lid on to crisp up the sausage meat. If you wish, add a little hickory and cherrywood to smoke on the coals for additional flavour and colour.

1. First, soft-boil the eggs. To achieve a perfect level of ooziness, simmer 4 large hen’s eggs for 6 minutes, then transfer them immediately to a bowl of iced water to cool. Once cooled, peel the eggs carefully.

2. For each Scotch egg, grab a handful of sausage meat and spread out into a disc on a piece of clingfilm. Crumble over some black pudding until the sausage meat is evenly covered.

3. Place an egg on top and carefully bring the sausage meat over and around to cover the egg evenly, smoothing over the edges and joins.

4. Repeat for the remainder of the sausage meat and eggs, until you have 4 Scotch eggs. Leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour.

5. Just before cooking, sprinkle the eggs with the barbecue rub. This is where you can make a Scotch egg truly your own.

6. Smoke the Scotch eggs on the BBQ with the lid on for about 40 minutes.

7. If you wish, brush the Scotch eggs all over with your choice of BBQ sauce, and cook

for a minute or two more with the lid on, checking the sauce doesn’t burn.

8. Ensure the sausage meat in the Scotch eggs reaches an internal temperature of 74°C (165°F ) before serving.

Grill tips

For the barbecue dry rub, I opted for a homemade version. Barbecuers have come up with some awesome ideas for covering Scotch eggs, including mixing panko breadcrumbs with a dry rub, as well as wrapping with bacon. What you decide to do for the dry coating is where you can transform these Scotch eggs into something uniquely yours.