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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, yielding tender soft-cooked egg with a tender white plus liquid yolk. The intense, dry heat of the oven proves harsher than steam, typically causing making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases as a jumping-off point, but get creative. The first features an easy turmeric coconut curry, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on eggs in purgatory, essentially, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 min
Cooking time Just under an hour
Serves Two people

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
A few basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Fresh eggs
Green chilies, thinly cut, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium-high heat. Pour in some oil, add the chopped onion seasoned with salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, allow to cook, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Heat until boiling, reduce to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for half an hour, 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 across the base, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with salt, cover the skillet, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, when whites are cooked with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cooking time Under an hour
Yields 2

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
4 eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Chopped herbs, diced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, to serve

Heat a skillet at moderate temperature. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, peel sausages forming small bits adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Turn down the heat, cook until golden, releasing flavorful oils. Move sausage pieces as they cook, for even browning.

When golden, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, increase to medium heat and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer and leave to blip away for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, intensify in color, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon forming wells within sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid. Simmer briefly on low flame, when eggs set with yolks runny.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, plus oil drizzle, and serve with lemon wedges.