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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs are made without baking. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked perfectly poached egg featuring set whites and flowing center. Direct oven heat from baking is much more aggressive than steam, often leading to dry everything out and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, though feel free to experiment. One is a super-simple golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on eggs in purgatory, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time Just under an hour
Yields 2

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
A few basil leaves, and additional for topping
4 eggs
Fresh chilies, finely sliced, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, occasionally stirring briefly, pour in creamy liquid along with chickpeas and liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for 30-35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Season with salt, then stir in the basil leaves.

Use the back of a spoon forming small wells within the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, place a lid on the pan, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm. Take off the heat, garnish with more basil and thinly sliced finger chillies, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cook Under an hour
Yields Two

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, diced
Chopped herbs, minced
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, sliced into wedges, for serving

Use a heavy pan on a medium heat. Drizzle olive oil and, once it’s warm, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, releasing flavorful oils. Move sausage pieces 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 fry with mixing, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer and leave to blip away about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, become richer and darker, as oils separate.

With a spoon making indentations across base, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg lightly salted, cover skillet. Heat for minutes gently, when eggs set and the yolks just warm.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, plus oil drizzle, accompanied by lemon.