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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs never require an oven. When testing these recipes, discovering that covering the pan creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, yielding tender soft-cooked egg with a tender white and flowing center. The intense, dry heat from baking acts stronger compared to steaming, typically causing to dehydrate ingredients and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as inspiration, encouraging customization. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, while the merguez ragu is a riff on eggs in purgatory, or simply put, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 55 minutes
Yields 2

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Salt
Two garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
6-8 curry leaves
Coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
4 eggs
Fresh chilies, finely sliced, to serve

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring briefly, pour in creamy liquid along with chickpeas and liquid. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer about 35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Adjust seasoning, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil to create four little pockets in the sauce, add eggs individually. Dust each egg with salt, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat for two to three minutes, until the whites are set and yolks warmed. Take off the heat, top with fresh herbs plus chili slices, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cook 45 minutes
Yields 2

Oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Canned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
4 eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Pour in oil and, once it’s warm, remove the skins from the sausages and break off pieces into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, brown the meat slowly, extracting spicy fats. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan while cooking, for even browning.

When golden, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic to the pan, turn up the heat to medium fry with mixing, briefly, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, salt to taste let it bubble. Turn down the heat to low and simmer slowly about 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, become richer and darker, as oils separate.

Use the back of a spoon forming wells within sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg lightly salted, cover skillet. Heat for minutes on low flame, when eggs set and the yolks just warm.

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