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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, discovering that covering the pan generates steam for cooking the egg tops, yielding tender soft-cooked egg featuring set whites and flowing center. The intense, dry heat from baking acts stronger versus moist heat, often leading making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. I’ve given you two sauces as inspiration, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy turmeric coconut curry, and the second offers a merguez ragu reimagines traditional spicy eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 min
Cook 55 minutes
Serves Two people

Olive oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, and additional for topping
4 eggs
Green chilies, thinly cut, to serve

Use a heavy skillet on a medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, fry until softened. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, and leave it to tick over about 35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Season with salt, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil making four indentations across the base, add eggs individually. Season eggs with a little salt, place a lid on the pan, gently heat for two to three minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Remove from heat, top with fresh herbs and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cook Under an hour
Yields 2

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
Garlic cloves, minced garlic
Canned tomatoes
Salt
Four eggs
Tangy peppers, roughly chopped
Chopped herbs, finely chopped
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Pour in oil once hot, peel sausages and break off pieces adding to pan, like mini balls. Reduce heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, 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 into the skillet, increase to medium heat sauté while stirring, briefly, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, season with salt let it bubble. Reduce to low heat and simmer slowly about 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, become richer and darker, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon making indentations within sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, cover skillet. Simmer briefly gently, 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.