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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. When testing these recipes, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment for cooking the egg tops, yielding tender perfectly poached egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. Direct oven heat from baking is much more aggressive compared to steaming, often leading to dry everything out resulting in firm yolks. Presenting two flavorful bases as inspiration, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines traditional spicy eggs, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 min
Cooking time 55 min
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Golden spice
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
A few basil leaves, with more for garnish
4 eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate-high temperature. Add a shot of olive oil, incorporate onions with some salt, fry until softened. 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, then turn down to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for 30-35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Add salt to taste, incorporate basil.

Employ a utensil making four indentations in the sauce, break eggs into each. Season eggs lightly salted, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat briefly, until egg whites firm and the yolks just warm. Take off the heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cooking time 45 minutes
Serves Two portions

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Fresh eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
Fresh lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate temperature. Pour in oil when heated, peel sausages and pinch small amounts of the meat into the pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Lower temperature, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, releasing flavorful oils. Stir merguez as they cook, so they colour on all sides.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, when fragrant, with garlic cooked. Tip in the tomatoes, 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.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets across base, break eggs in. Season eggs with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Simmer briefly gently, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, with lemon on side.