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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. Through culinary experiments, I found that simply adding a lid creates a steamy environment for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked delicately prepared egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. Direct oven heat in conventional ovens acts stronger than steam, and has a tendency to dry everything out and overcook the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases as a jumping-off point, though feel free to experiment. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, and the second offers a merguez ragu reimagines eggs in purgatory, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (shown above)

Preparation A quick 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 minutes
Yields Two people

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Chickpeas
Fresh basil, with more for garnish
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for half an hour, when sauce is rich and yellow. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

Employ a utensil making four indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, and cook on a low heat briefly, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, ready to enjoy.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Yields Two

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Tomato base
Seasoning
4 eggs
Pickled peppers, diced
Chopped herbs, minced
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Pour in oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts into the skillet, almost like little meatballs. Lower temperature, cook until golden, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Stir merguez as they cook, to brown evenly.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic to the pan, increase to medium heat fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste let it bubble. Reduce to low heat and simmer slowly about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil forming wells across base, add eggs individually. Season eggs lightly salted, place lid on pan. Simmer briefly on low flame, until whites firm with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, plus oil drizzle, with lemon on side.