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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes are made without baking. When testing these recipes, I found that simply adding a lid produces a humid atmosphere to cook the top of the eggs, delivering a gently cooked soft-cooked egg with firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. Direct oven heat in conventional ovens is much more aggressive versus moist heat, often leading to dehydrate ingredients and overcook the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases to get started, but get creative. One is a super-simple golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines traditional spicy eggs, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

Prep A quick 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Yields 2

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Salt
Two garlic cloves, minced garlic
10g fresh ginger, minced ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
Fresh basil, and additional for topping
Fresh eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium-high flame. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, allow to cook, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid including chickpea can contents. Heat until boiling, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer for 30-35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Add salt to taste, then stir in the basil leaves.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets in the sauce, break eggs into each. Dust each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat for two to three minutes, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cooking time 45 min
Serves Two

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
Canned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Four eggs
Tangy peppers, coarsely cut
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Drizzle olive oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits adding to pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan as they cook, so they colour on all sides.

Once browned, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium sauté while stirring, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, with garlic cooked. Pour in tomato contents, season with salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently for 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

With a spoon making indentations within sauce, add eggs individually. Dust with salt lightly salted, place lid on pan. Simmer briefly gently, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm.

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