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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. When testing these recipes, I found that simply adding a lid creates a steamy environment to cook the top of the eggs, delivering a gently cooked delicately prepared egg with firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. The harsh, arid temperature from baking is much more aggressive compared to steaming, typically causing making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on classic tomato-baked eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 min
Cook Just under an hour
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
Creamy coconut
Chickpeas
A few basil leaves, with more for garnish
Fresh eggs
Green chilies, julienned, to serve

Use a heavy skillet at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, add the chopped onion seasoned with salt, sauté for several minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, leave to sizzle, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid including chickpea can contents. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, until thick and golden. Add salt to taste, then stir in the basil leaves.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations within the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat briefly, until egg whites firm and the yolks just warm. Turn off stove, garnish with more basil and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 45 min
Serves Two

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Tomato base
Salt
Fresh eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, minced
Greek yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet over medium flame. Drizzle olive oil once hot, take off sausage casings and pinch small amounts adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Turn down the heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, releasing flavorful oils. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan as they cook, to brown evenly.

After browning, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic to the pot, increase to medium heat fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, add seasoning and bring to a simmer. Lower to gentle simmer cooking gently about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil making indentations in the sauce, break eggs in. Dust with salt lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid. Simmer briefly over a low heat, until the whites are set and yolks warmed.

Take off the heat, garnish with peppers, parsley and yogurt, and a drizzle of oil, and serve with lemon wedges.