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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. When testing these recipes, realizing that using a cover generates steam that gently cooks the eggs, yielding tender delicately prepared egg with a tender white plus liquid yolk. The harsh, arid temperature in conventional ovens acts stronger compared to steaming, typically causing making dishes dry and harden the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, but get creative. One is a super-simple turmeric coconut curry, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines traditional spicy eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (featured)

Preparation 10 min
Cooking time 55 min
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, minced garlic
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
Creamy coconut
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, and additional for topping
4 eggs
Fresh chilies, thinly cut, as garnish

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, allow to cook, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, allow to cook slowly for 30-35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, then stir in the basil leaves.

With a spoon’s back forming small wells within the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust each egg lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat briefly, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, and serve.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cooking time 45 minutes
Serves 2

Oil
Merguez sausages
Spicy paste
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Chopped herbs, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Use a heavy pan over medium flame. Drizzle olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts adding to pan, like mini balls. Reduce heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Move sausage pieces as they cook, so they colour on all sides.

After browning, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic to the pan, turn up the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, with garlic cooked. 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, thicken and deepen in colour, as oils separate.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets across base, break eggs in. Dust with salt with a little salt, cover skillet. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, until whites firm and yolks warmed.

Turn off stove, finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, and a drizzle of oil, accompanied by lemon.