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Let me explain: the best baked eggs don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, discovering that covering the pan creates a steamy environment for cooking the egg tops, yielding tender soft-cooked egg with firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat in conventional ovens acts stronger compared to steaming, and has a tendency to dry everything out and overcook the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces as inspiration, but get creative. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, and the second offers a merguez ragu reimagines traditional spicy eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation A quick 10 minutes
Cook 55 min
Yields Two people

Olive oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, minced ginger
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
Aromatic leaves
Coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
Basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, incorporate onions with some salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, add coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer for half an hour, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, incorporate basil.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations in the sauce, break eggs into each. Season eggs lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves plus chili slices, ready to enjoy.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 min
Cook 45 minutes
Yields 2

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
Tangy peppers, diced
Fresh parsley, minced
Greek yogurt
Fresh lemon, wedge-cut, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and break off pieces adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Lower temperature, cook until golden, releasing flavorful oils. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, to brown evenly.

After browning, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, increase to medium heat sauté while stirring, briefly, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, add seasoning let it bubble. Lower to gentle simmer and leave to blip away for 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 forming wells in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, place lid on pan. Simmer briefly over a low heat, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, garnish with peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, with lemon on side.