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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, discovering that covering the pan generates steam to cook the top of the eggs, yielding tender delicately prepared egg with firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. Direct oven heat from baking is much more aggressive than steam, typically causing to dry everything out and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, but get creative. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on classic tomato-baked eggs, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 min
Cook 55 min
Yields Two people

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
Turmeric powder
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, and additional for topping
Fresh eggs
Fresh chilies, thinly cut, as garnish

Heat a cast-iron pan at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, leave to sizzle, mixing now and then briefly, add coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer for half an hour, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Season with salt, incorporate basil.

Employ a utensil making four indentations within the sauce, break eggs into each. Dust each egg with salt, then cover the pan with a lid, gently heat briefly, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm. Take off the heat, garnish with more basil and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Serves 2

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Salt
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, roughly chopped
Chopped herbs, diced
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Pour in oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Lower temperature, brown the meat slowly, releasing flavorful oils. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan as they cook, to brown evenly.

After browning, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pot, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, briefly, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently about 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, become richer and darker, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, plus oil drizzle, with lemon on side.