Wee Scotch Eggs

Although it's not hard, this recipe does have a few stages – but bloomin' hell, it's worth it. Bizarrely, it's not much more effort to make 30 than it is to make 12. Once you are set up, you're ready to go. Eat these while they are hot, crispy and still oozy in the middle, or if you want to go down the picnic route, just boil the eggs for an extra minute.

Put the kettle on to boil. Meanwhile tear open the sausages and squeeze the meat on to a plate. Season with the paprika, the chopped herbs, a few gratings of nutmeg and a little salt and pepper, then use a fork to mash it all up. Put out your bowls of flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs.

Carefully put the quail's eggs into a small pan. Once the kettle boils, pour in the boiling water straight away and cook for 2 minutes, no longer. Move the pan to the sink and run cold water over the eggs for 2 to 3 minutes. Tap, roll and – ever so gently – peel the shells off them. Do it under running water if it helps. You'll get quicker at peeling them as you go.

We've got a video up on www.jamieoliver.com/how-to with the whole assembling process, so check that out if you want to rattle through this bit really efficiently. Take a marble-sized piece of sausage meat and flatten it out in the palm of your clean hand until it's about 6cm in diameter. Pop an egg into the middle, then carefully shape and mould the sausage meat up around the egg with your floured hands. You need to get into the routine of pulling up the sides, gently squeezing, moulding, patting and very gently squashing the meat around the egg. Repeat with all 12 eggs, then coat them well with flour. Transfer them to the bowl of beaten egg and coat well, then roll them in the breadcrumbs. They'll be more robust to hold now, so pat and hug them into shape. When they're all done, put them into a container and pop them into the fridge until needed.