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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, I found that simply adding a lid creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, yielding tender soft-cooked egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat of the oven proves harsher compared to steaming, and has a tendency making dishes dry and harden the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases as inspiration, but get creative. The first features an easy turmeric coconut curry, and the second offers a merguez ragu puts a twist on classic tomato-baked eggs, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 min
Cooking time Just under an hour
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Toasted cumin
Aromatic leaves
Coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, and additional for topping
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, for serving

Use a heavy skillet at moderate-high temperature. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, leave to sizzle, stirring occasionally for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid including chickpea can contents. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer for half an hour, until thick and golden. Season with salt, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil making four indentations in the sauce, break eggs into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg lightly salted, place a lid on the pan, gently heat for two to three minutes, until egg whites firm and yolks warmed. Turn off stove, top with fresh herbs and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cooking time 45 minutes
Yields Two portions

Oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Spicy paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
Tomato base
Seasoning
4 eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
Greek yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Pour in oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages and break off pieces adding to pan, like mini balls. Reduce heat, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Stir merguez during cooking, for even browning.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic to the pan, adjust to moderate flame sauté while stirring, for three to four minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, season with salt and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away for twenty minutes. The ragu will reduce, intensify in color, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon forming wells in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust with salt with a little salt, place lid on pan. Cook for two to three minutes gently, until whites firm with yolks runny.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, parsley and yogurt, and oil splash, and serve with lemon wedges.