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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, I found that simply adding a lid generates steam for cooking the egg tops, yielding tender delicately prepared egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat of the oven acts stronger than steam, often leading to dry everything out resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases as a jumping-off point, encouraging customization. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines eggs in purgatory, essentially, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, minced ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Heat a cast-iron pan at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, incorporate onions with some salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, leave to sizzle, stirring occasionally for a few minutes, add coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, lower heat to gentle cook, allow to cook slowly about 35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Season with salt, incorporate basil.

Use the back of a spoon making four indentations in the sauce, break eggs into each. Season eggs with salt, cover the skillet, gently heat for two to three minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, garnish with more basil plus chili slices, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 min
Cooking time 45 min
Serves Two portions

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
Canned tomatoes
Salt
4 eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, roughly chopped
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, take off sausage casings and pinch small amounts of the meat into the pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, cook until golden, extracting spicy fats. Stir merguez while cooking, so they colour on all sides.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and garlic softens. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat and leave to blip away about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, intensify in color, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil making indentations across base, add eggs individually. Season eggs with a little salt, cover skillet. Simmer briefly gently, until the whites are set and yolks warmed.

Turn off stove, top with pickled peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and a drizzle of oil, accompanied by lemon.