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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. When testing these recipes, discovering that covering the pan produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked soft-cooked egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat from baking acts stronger compared to steaming, often leading making dishes dry and harden the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, but get creative. The first features an easy coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines eggs in purgatory, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Prep A quick 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Yields Two people

Olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Toasted cumin
Curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium-high heat. Pour in some oil, toss in the onion with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, let them sizzle, stirring occasionally for a few minutes, add coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer for half an hour, until thick and golden. Season with salt, incorporate basil.

With a spoon’s back to create four little pockets across the base, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, place a lid on the pan, gently heat for a few minutes, until egg whites firm and the yolks just warm. Remove from heat, top with fresh herbs plus chili slices, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cooking time 45 minutes
Serves Two portions

Oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Fresh eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, diced
Creamy yogurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet at moderate temperature. Pour in oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, brown the meat slowly, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces as they cook, for even browning.

Once browned, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, until aromatic, with garlic cooked. Tip in the tomatoes, salt to taste and bring to a simmer. Lower to gentle simmer and simmer slowly for twenty minutes. The ragu will reduce, become richer and darker, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Employ utensil to create four little pockets across base, add eggs individually. Season eggs with salt, place lid on pan. Simmer briefly over a low heat, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, parsley and yogurt, and oil splash, with lemon on side.