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Consider this: the best baked eggs don’t ever hit the oven. Through culinary experiments, discovering that covering the pan creates a steamy environment for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked delicately prepared egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. The harsh, arid temperature of the oven acts stronger than steam, and has a tendency to dry everything out resulting in firm yolks. I’ve given you two sauces to get started, though feel free to experiment. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on traditional spicy eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 minutes
Yields Two people

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
10g fresh ginger, minced ginger
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
Creamy coconut
Canned chickpeas
A few basil leaves, and additional for topping
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet on a medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, incorporate onions with some salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, let them sizzle, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, add coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Heat until boiling, reduce to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, until thick and golden. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

Use the back of a spoon making four indentations in the sauce, break eggs into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, then cover the pan with a lid, and cook on a low heat briefly, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cook 45 minutes
Yields Two portions

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
Spicy paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
Canned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, diced
Fresh parsley, minced
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Use a heavy pan on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Lower temperature, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Move sausage pieces while cooking, to brown evenly.

After browning, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pan, adjust to moderate flame and cook, stirring, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, season with salt and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to low cooking gently about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, become richer and darker, as oils separate.

Use the back of a spoon forming wells in the sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, place lid on pan. Heat for minutes on low flame, when eggs set with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, with lemon on side.