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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, I found that simply adding a lid generates steam for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked soft-cooked egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. The intense, dry heat from baking acts stronger versus moist heat, and has a tendency making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces as inspiration, though feel free to experiment. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, while the merguez ragu reimagines classic tomato-baked eggs, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 55 min
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Sea salt
Two garlic cloves, minced garlic
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
200ml coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, finely sliced, for serving

Heat a cast-iron pan at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion with some salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Heat until boiling, reduce to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for 30-35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, then stir in the basil leaves.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets in the sauce, break eggs into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, gently heat briefly, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 min
Cooking time Under an hour
Serves 2

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, minced garlic
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Salt
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, roughly chopped
Chopped herbs, finely chopped
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts of the meat into the pan, like mini balls. Reduce heat, cook until golden, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan while cooking, for even browning.

Once browned, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium and cook, stirring, briefly, until aromatic, with garlic cooked. Tip in the tomatoes, salt to taste let it bubble. Lower to gentle simmer cooking gently about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, as oils separate.

Use the back of a spoon making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust with salt with a little salt, place lid on pan. Heat for minutes on low flame, when eggs set and yolks warmed.

Take off the heat, finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, accompanied by lemon.