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Consider this: the best baked eggs never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment to cook the top of the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked delicately prepared egg with a tender white and flowing center. Direct oven heat of the oven is much more aggressive than steam, and has a tendency to dry everything out resulting in firm yolks. I’ve given you two sauces as a jumping-off point, but get creative. The first features an easy coconut turmeric blend, 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 (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Yields 2

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, minced ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Fresh eggs
Green chilies, julienned, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet over medium-high flame. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion seasoned with salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, mixing now and then briefly, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly about 35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

Employ a utensil forming small wells across the base, break eggs into each. Dust each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, gently heat briefly, when whites are cooked with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, top with fresh herbs and sliced chilies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes
Yields Two

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, roughly chopped
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, as garnish

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil when heated, peel sausages forming small bits of the meat into the pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, cook until golden, extracting spicy fats. Stir merguez as they cook, to brown evenly.

Once browned, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pot, adjust to moderate flame sauté while stirring, for several minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer cooking gently about 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, thicken and deepen in colour, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon to create four little pockets across base, break eggs in. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, place lid on pan. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, accompanied by lemon.