🔗 Share this article

So, hear me out: the best baked eggs never require an oven. Through culinary experiments, realizing that using a cover generates steam for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked soft-cooked egg featuring set whites plus liquid yolk. The intense, dry heat from baking acts stronger versus moist heat, typically causing making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. I’ve given you two sauces as a jumping-off point, but get creative. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, while the merguez ragu puts a twist on traditional spicy eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (pictured above)

Preparation A quick 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, minced ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, plus extra to serve
4 eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, for serving

Heat a cast-iron pan at moderate-high temperature. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, leave to sizzle, stirring occasionally for three to four minutes, then tip in the coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Let it bubble, lower heat to gentle cook, let it simmer about 35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil forming small wells within the sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, place a lid on the pan, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until egg whites firm and the yolks just warm. Turn off stove, top with fresh herbs and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook Under an hour
Yields Two

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Creamy yogurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, to serve

Heat a skillet on a medium heat. Pour in oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts of the meat into the pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Lower temperature, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, for even browning.

When golden, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame sauté while stirring, for several minutes, until aromatic, and garlic softens. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer and leave to blip away for twenty minutes. The ragu will reduce, become richer and darker, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil making indentations within sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Heat for minutes on low flame, until whites firm and the yolks just warm.

Take off the heat, garnish with peppers, parsley and yogurt, plus oil drizzle, accompanied by lemon.