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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, yielding tender soft-cooked egg featuring set whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat from baking acts stronger versus moist heat, typically causing making dishes dry and harden the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces to get started, though feel free to experiment. Option one involves a straightforward golden coconut sauce, and the second offers a merguez ragu reimagines eggs in purgatory, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Serves 2

Extra virgin oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, and additional for topping
Four eggs
Fresh chilies, finely sliced, to serve

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, add the chopped onion seasoned with salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, let them sizzle, mixing now and then for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Heat until boiling, then turn down to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, until thick and golden. Adjust seasoning, incorporate basil.

Use the back of a spoon making four indentations within the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat for two to three minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves plus chili slices, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cooking time Under an hour
Yields 2

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, minced garlic
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, for serving

Use a heavy pan over medium flame. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, take off sausage casings forming small bits adding to pan, like mini balls. Lower temperature, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan while cooking, to brown evenly.

Once browned, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Turn down the heat to low cooking gently for 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, intensify in color, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon making indentations in the sauce, add eggs individually. Dust with salt with salt, cover skillet. Heat for minutes over a low heat, when eggs set with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, accompanied by lemon.