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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes are made without baking. When testing these recipes, I found that simply adding a lid produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked perfectly poached egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat in conventional ovens acts stronger than steam, often leading making dishes dry and harden the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases to get started, but get creative. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce puts a twist on traditional spicy eggs, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

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

Olive oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, allow to cook, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, pour in creamy liquid including chickpea can contents. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer about 35 minutes, until thick and golden. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

Use the back of a spoon making four indentations within the sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs with salt, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat briefly, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves plus chili slices, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 min
Cook 45 minutes
Serves Two portions

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Harissa paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Canned tomatoes
Salt
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, finely chopped
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Use a heavy pan over medium flame. Drizzle olive oil once hot, take off sausage casings forming small bits of the meat into the pan, almost like little meatballs. Lower temperature, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, so they colour on all sides.

After browning, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, add seasoning let it bubble. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, become richer and darker, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon making indentations within sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs with salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Simmer briefly over a low heat, until the whites are set and yolks warmed.

Take off the heat, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and a drizzle of oil, and serve with lemon wedges.