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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs are made without baking. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover creates a steamy environment that gently cooks the eggs, yielding tender soft-cooked egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat of the oven proves harsher than steam, typically causing making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases as inspiration, but get creative. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on eggs in purgatory, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Preparation 10 min
Cook 55 minutes
Serves Two people

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Toasted cumin
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Canned chickpeas
Basil leaves, plus extra to serve
4 eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet on a medium-high heat. Add a shot of olive oil, toss in the onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, let them sizzle, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, add coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer for 30-35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Add salt to taste, incorporate basil.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets within the sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, cover the skillet, simmer over low heat briefly, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, garnish with more basil plus chili slices, ready to enjoy.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep Quick prep
Cooking time 45 min
Yields Two

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Spicy paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Tomato base
Seasoning
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Heat a skillet at moderate temperature. Pour in oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages and break off pieces adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Reduce heat, cook until golden, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces as they cook, to brown evenly.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic to the pan, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, season with salt let it bubble. Lower to gentle simmer and leave to blip away for twenty minutes. Sauce will thicken, become richer and darker, as oils separate.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust with salt with salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Heat for minutes on low flame, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm.

Remove from heat, finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, and serve with lemon wedges.