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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes are made without baking. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover generates steam to cook the top of the eggs, yielding tender perfectly poached egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat from baking proves harsher compared to steaming, often leading making dishes dry and harden the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases as inspiration, but get creative. Option one involves a straightforward golden coconut sauce, while the merguez ragu is a riff on traditional spicy eggs, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time Just under an hour
Yields 2

Extra virgin oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, for serving

Use a heavy skillet on a medium-high heat. Pour in some oil, incorporate onions and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, occasionally stirring briefly, then tip in the coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for half an hour, until thick and golden. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations across the base, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with salt, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat for a few minutes, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Remove from heat, garnish with more basil plus chili slices, ready to enjoy.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cooking time 45 min
Yields Two portions

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Salt
4 eggs
Tangy peppers, diced
Chopped herbs, finely chopped
Greek yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate temperature. Pour in oil and, once it’s warm, peel sausages and break off pieces into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, cook until golden, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Move sausage pieces during cooking, to brown evenly.

After browning, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pan, adjust to moderate flame and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, become richer and darker, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon forming wells across base, break eggs in. Season eggs with a little salt, cover skillet. Simmer briefly over a low heat, until whites firm with yolks runny.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, with lemon on side.