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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes are made without baking. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment to cook the top of the eggs, delivering a gently cooked soft-cooked egg with a tender white and flowing center. The intense, dry heat in conventional ovens proves harsher versus moist heat, often leading making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as inspiration, but get creative. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on eggs in purgatory, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Prep A quick 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Yields 2

Olive oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
Golden spice
Toasted cumin
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, finely sliced, to serve

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Pour in some oil, incorporate onions with some salt, fry until softened. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, allow to cook, stirring occasionally for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, lower heat to gentle cook, allow to cook slowly for half an hour, until thick and golden. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

Use the back of a spoon forming small wells across the base, break eggs into each. Dust each egg with salt, cover the skillet, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until the whites are set and yolks warmed. Turn off stove, garnish with more basil and thinly sliced finger chillies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 min
Serves Two portions

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Four eggs
Pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Creamy yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Drizzle olive oil when heated, peel sausages forming small bits into the skillet, almost like little meatballs. Reduce heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Stir merguez as they cook, for even browning.

When golden, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, with garlic cooked. Add tomatoes, salt to taste let it bubble. Reduce to low heat and simmer slowly for 20 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, break eggs in. Dust with salt with a little salt, cover skillet. Cook for two to three minutes on low flame, when eggs set and the yolks just warm.

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