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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, I found that simply adding a lid generates steam that gently cooks the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked perfectly poached egg with a tender white and flowing center. The intense, dry heat of the oven is much more aggressive than steam, often leading to dry everything out and overcook the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases as a jumping-off point, encouraging customization. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, and the second offers a merguez ragu reimagines classic tomato-baked eggs, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 min
Cook 55 min
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Fresh basil, with more for garnish
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate-high temperature. Pour in some oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, mixing now and then briefly, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, lower heat to gentle cook, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, until thick and golden. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

Employ a utensil forming small wells across the base, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg lightly salted, place a lid on the pan, simmer over low heat for two to three minutes, when whites are cooked and the yolks just warm. Remove from heat, top with fresh herbs plus chili slices, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes
Yields Two portions

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Salt
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, coarsely cut
Fresh parsley, minced
Creamy yogurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, for serving

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits into the skillet, almost like little meatballs. Reduce heat, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan while cooking, so they colour on all sides.

Once browned, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pot, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat and leave to blip away for twenty minutes. Ragu thickens, intensify in color, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, place lid on pan. Heat for minutes over a low heat, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, and oil splash, with lemon on side.