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Let me explain: the best baked eggs don’t ever hit the oven. When testing these recipes, discovering that covering the pan produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, resulting in perfectly cooked soft-cooked egg featuring set whites and flowing center. The harsh, arid temperature in conventional ovens acts stronger versus moist heat, and has a tendency making dishes dry and harden the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces to get started, but get creative. One is a super-simple golden coconut sauce, and the second offers a merguez ragu puts a twist on eggs in purgatory, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (featured)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 minutes
Yields Two people

Extra virgin oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Sea salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
Toasted cumin
Aromatic leaves
Creamy coconut
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
4 eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, to serve

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Pour in some oil, add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, leave to sizzle, stirring occasionally briefly, add coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Let it bubble, lower heat to gentle cook, let it simmer for half an hour, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations within the sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs with salt, place a lid on the pan, gently heat briefly, until the whites are set and yolks warmed. Remove from heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 45 minutes
Serves 2

Oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Fresh eggs
Tangy peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

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. Turn down the heat, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Move sausage pieces during cooking, so they colour on all sides.

When golden, mix in spices and garlic to the pan, increase to medium heat fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, salt to taste and bring to a simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, intensify in color, while the oils split and rise to the top.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets within sauce, break eggs in. Dust with salt lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid. Simmer briefly gently, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Turn off stove, garnish with peppers, parsley and yogurt, plus oil drizzle, and serve with lemon wedges.