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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, realizing that using a cover generates steam that gently cooks the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked delicately prepared egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat in conventional ovens is much more aggressive than steam, often leading making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases as a jumping-off point, encouraging customization. One is a super-simple turmeric coconut curry, whereas the spicy sausage sauce puts a twist on eggs in purgatory, essentially, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Prep A quick 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Sea salt
Two garlic cloves, minced garlic
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Turmeric powder
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Fresh eggs
Green chilies, finely sliced, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium-high heat. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, leave to sizzle, stirring occasionally for a few minutes, add coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Heat until boiling, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for half an hour, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Add salt to taste, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back to create four little pockets in the sauce, break eggs into each. Season eggs lightly salted, place a lid on the pan, gently heat for a few minutes, when whites are cooked and yolks warmed. Remove from heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 min
Cooking time 45 minutes
Serves Two

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, minced garlic
Canned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, diced
Fresh parsley, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, as garnish

Use a heavy pan at moderate temperature. Drizzle olive oil and, once it’s warm, take off sausage casings and pinch small amounts of the meat into the 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, for even browning.

When golden, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and garlic softens. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste heat to simmer. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away for twenty minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

With a spoon making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs lightly salted, place lid on pan. Heat for minutes over a low heat, when eggs set and yolks warmed.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, plus oil drizzle, and serve with lemon wedges.