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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes are made without baking. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked delicately prepared egg featuring set whites and flowing center. Direct oven heat in conventional ovens acts stronger than steam, typically causing making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases as a jumping-off point, encouraging customization. The first features an easy turmeric coconut curry, while the merguez ragu reimagines eggs in purgatory, or simply put, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (featured)

Preparation A quick 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 min
Serves Two servings

Extra virgin oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
Creamy coconut
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet at moderate-high temperature. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion seasoned with salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring briefly, pour in creamy liquid and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Heat until boiling, then turn down to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, incorporate basil.

Employ a utensil to create four little pockets in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust each egg with salt, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat for two to three minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, garnish with more basil and thinly sliced finger chillies, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 min
Serves Two portions

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Tomato base
Fine sea salt
4 eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Fresh parsley, diced
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet over medium flame. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Stir merguez during cooking, to brown evenly.

When golden, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and garlic softens. Add tomatoes, add seasoning heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer cooking gently for twenty minutes. Sauce will thicken, become richer and darker, with oils separating and surfacing.

Use the back of a spoon forming wells within sauce, break eggs in. Dust with salt with salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, when eggs set and the yolks just warm.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, and serve with lemon wedges.