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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, I found that simply adding a lid produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked soft-cooked egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The harsh, arid temperature in conventional ovens is much more aggressive than steam, often leading to dehydrate ingredients resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases to get started, but get creative. One is a super-simple golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce puts a twist on eggs in purgatory, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time Just under an hour
Serves Two people

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
Creamy coconut
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, with more for garnish
Four eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, for serving

Use a heavy skillet on a medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion 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, pour in creamy liquid along with chickpeas and liquid. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly about 35 minutes, until thick and golden. Add salt to taste, incorporate basil.

Employ a utensil forming small wells within the sauce, add eggs individually. Dust each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, gently heat for a few minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, garnish with more basil and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cooking time Under an hour
Yields Two portions

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Tomato base
Salt
Four eggs
Tangy peppers, coarsely cut
Fresh parsley, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, as garnish

Use a heavy pan at moderate temperature. Pour in oil once hot, peel sausages and pinch small amounts into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, brown the meat slowly, releasing flavorful oils. Move sausage pieces while cooking, so they colour on all sides.

When golden, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium sauté while stirring, briefly, until aromatic, and garlic softens. Tip in the tomatoes, add seasoning heat to simmer. Turn down the heat to low cooking gently for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, thicken and deepen in colour, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon making indentations within sauce, break eggs in. Dust with salt lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid. Simmer briefly on low flame, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm.

Turn off stove, top with pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, plus oil drizzle, accompanied by lemon.