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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, discovering that covering the pan creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, delivering a gently cooked soft-cooked egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat of the oven is much more aggressive compared to steaming, often leading making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases to get started, encouraging customization. Option one involves a straightforward turmeric coconut curry, while the merguez ragu reimagines eggs in purgatory, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (shown above)

Prep A quick 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
A few basil leaves, and additional for topping
4 eggs
Green chilies, julienned, to serve

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Add a shot of olive oil, add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, leave to sizzle, stirring occasionally for a few minutes, pour in creamy liquid including chickpea can contents. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer about 35 minutes, until thick and golden. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back forming small wells across the base, add eggs individually. Season eggs lightly salted, cover the skillet, gently heat for two to three minutes, when whites are cooked and the yolks just warm. Turn off stove, garnish with more basil and sliced chilies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cooking time Under an hour
Serves 2

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Spicy paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Tomato base
Salt
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, coarsely cut
Fresh parsley, diced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Use a heavy pan at moderate temperature. Pour in oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts of the meat into the pan, almost like little meatballs. Turn down the heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, so they colour on all sides.

After browning, mix in spices and garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame and cook, stirring, for several minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, add seasoning heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer and simmer slowly for 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, intensify in color, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil making indentations across base, break eggs in. Season eggs with salt, place lid on pan. Cook for two to three minutes gently, until whites firm and the yolks just warm.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, accompanied by lemon.