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Let me explain: the best baked eggs are made without baking. During recipe development, discovering that covering the pan generates steam to cook the top of the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked perfectly poached egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. The harsh, arid temperature of the oven is much more aggressive compared to steaming, typically causing to dry everything out resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases to get started, but get creative. One is a super-simple turmeric coconut curry, while the merguez ragu reimagines eggs in purgatory, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (featured)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 min
Yields Two people

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Turmeric powder
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, until thick and golden. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

Employ a utensil to create four little pockets in the sauce, add eggs individually. Dust each egg lightly salted, place a lid on the pan, gently heat for a few minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm. Remove from heat, top with fresh herbs and sliced chilies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cook 45 minutes
Yields 2

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, diced
Chopped herbs, diced
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Use a heavy pan at moderate temperature. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, peel sausages and break off pieces adding to pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces as they cook, for even browning.

After browning, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic to the pot, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, season with salt let it bubble. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

With a spoon forming wells in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with a little salt, place lid on pan. Heat for minutes gently, until whites firm with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, garnish with peppers, parsley and yogurt, plus oil drizzle, and serve with lemon wedges.