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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. When testing these recipes, I found that simply adding a lid produces a humid atmosphere to cook the top of the eggs, yielding tender perfectly poached egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat in conventional ovens acts stronger compared to steaming, often leading making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces as inspiration, encouraging customization. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, while the merguez ragu reimagines classic tomato-baked eggs, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (featured)

Preparation 10 min
Cook Just under an hour
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, minced ginger
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion with some salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, allow to cook, mixing now and then briefly, add coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly about 35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Season with salt, then stir in the basil leaves.

Use the back of a spoon making four indentations across the base, break eggs into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, place a lid on the pan, gently heat briefly, until egg whites firm and the yolks just warm. Remove from heat, garnish with more basil and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time Under an hour
Serves 2

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Fresh parsley, minced
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, wedge-cut, for serving

Use a heavy pan over medium flame. Drizzle olive oil when heated, take off sausage casings forming small bits adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Turn down the heat, brown the meat slowly, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces as they cook, for even browning.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic into the skillet, increase to medium heat and cook, stirring, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, salt to taste heat to simmer. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, thicken and deepen in colour, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets in the sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs lightly salted, cover skillet. Cook for two to three minutes gently, until whites firm and yolks warmed.

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