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Let me explain: the best baked eggs never require an oven. During recipe development, I found that simply adding a lid creates a steamy environment for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked perfectly poached egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The harsh, arid temperature from baking is much more aggressive versus moist heat, typically causing making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as inspiration, though feel free to experiment. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, and the second offers a merguez ragu puts a twist on traditional spicy eggs, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation A quick 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, and additional for topping
4 eggs
Green chilies, julienned, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate-high temperature. Pour in some oil, add the chopped onion with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, let them sizzle, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, then tip in the coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for 30-35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil forming small wells across the base, break eggs into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat briefly, when whites are cooked and yolks warmed. Turn off stove, top with fresh herbs and sliced chilies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes
Serves Two portions

Oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Canned tomatoes
Salt
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, diced
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Pour in oil when heated, take off sausage casings forming small bits adding to pan, like mini balls. Lower temperature, brown the meat slowly, releasing flavorful oils. Move sausage pieces while cooking, for even browning.

After browning, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pot, increase to medium heat fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and garlic softens. Tip in the tomatoes, season with salt let it bubble. Lower to gentle simmer cooking gently about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, intensify in color, with oils separating and surfacing.

With a spoon making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, cover skillet. Heat for minutes over a low heat, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, finish with chopped pickled peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and a drizzle of oil, accompanied by lemon.