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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, delivering a gently cooked delicately prepared egg with firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat in conventional ovens proves harsher than steam, and has a tendency to dehydrate ingredients and harden the yolk. Here are two sauce options to get started, though feel free to experiment. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, and the second offers a merguez ragu puts a twist on eggs in purgatory, or simply put, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 min
Cook 55 minutes
Yields 2

Olive oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, minced ginger
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
Creamy coconut
400g tin chickpeas
A few basil leaves, with more for garnish
Fresh eggs
Fresh chilies, thinly cut, to serve

Use a heavy skillet at moderate-high temperature. Pour in some oil, add the chopped onion with some salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, stirring occasionally for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer for 30-35 minutes, until thick and golden. Season with salt, incorporate basil.

Employ a utensil forming small wells in the sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs lightly salted, cover the skillet, simmer over low heat briefly, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Remove from heat, top with fresh herbs and thinly sliced finger chillies, then serve immediately.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 min
Cook 45 minutes
Yields 2

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Tomato base
Salt
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, diced
Chopped herbs, minced
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet over medium flame. Pour in oil once hot, take off sausage casings and break off pieces of the meat into the pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Turn down the heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan while cooking, for even browning.

After browning, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic into the skillet, turn up the heat to medium and cook, stirring, for three to four minutes, until aromatic, and garlic softens. Tip in the tomatoes, add seasoning let it bubble. Turn down the heat to low and simmer slowly for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, intensify in color, with oils separating and surfacing.

With a spoon making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust with salt lightly salted, place lid on pan. Heat for minutes on low flame, until whites firm and yolks warmed.

Take off the heat, finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, and oil splash, with lemon on side.