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Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere to cook the top of the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked delicately prepared egg with a tender white and flowing center. The harsh, arid temperature of the oven acts stronger versus moist heat, typically causing to dehydrate ingredients and harden the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces as inspiration, but get creative. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on classic tomato-baked eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Preparation A quick 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Yields 2

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
10g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
A few basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, julienned, as garnish

Heat a cast-iron pan on a medium-high heat. Pour in some oil, add the chopped onion seasoned with salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, let them sizzle, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer about 35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations across the base, add eggs individually. Season eggs with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid, and cook on a low heat for two to three minutes, when whites are cooked and yolks warmed. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Serves Two portions

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Tomato base
Fine sea salt
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, coarsely cut
Fresh parsley, diced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, to serve

Use a heavy pan on a medium heat. Pour in oil and, once it’s warm, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits into the skillet, almost like little meatballs. Lower temperature, cook until golden, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces during cooking, for even browning.

When golden, mix in spices and garlic to the pan, adjust to moderate flame and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, with garlic cooked. Tip in the tomatoes, add seasoning heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently for twenty minutes. The ragu will reduce, intensify in color, as oils separate.

Employ utensil making indentations across base, break eggs in. Season eggs with salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Heat for minutes gently, until the whites are set and yolks warmed.

Take off the heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, and serve with lemon wedges.