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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. During recipe development, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere that gently cooks the eggs, delivering a gently cooked delicately prepared egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk. Direct oven heat from baking acts stronger compared to steaming, often leading making dishes dry and harden the yolk. Here are two sauce options as inspiration, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, while the merguez ragu reimagines classic tomato-baked eggs, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Golden Coconut Sauce Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 55 min
Serves 2

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
Creamy coconut
Chickpeas
Fresh basil, with more for garnish
4 eggs
Fresh chilies, finely sliced, as garnish

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, incorporate onions with some salt, sauté for several minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, allow to cook, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, add coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Bring to a boil, lower heat to gentle cook, allow to cook slowly for half an hour, when sauce is rich and yellow. Adjust seasoning, then stir in the basil leaves.

Employ a utensil forming small wells in the sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Remove from heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu and Pickled Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 min
Serves Two

Oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
Spicy paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
4 eggs
Pickled peppers, diced
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, diced
Greek yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Add two tablespoons of 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, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, releasing flavorful oils. Stir merguez while cooking, so they colour on all sides.

After browning, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, increase to medium heat fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, with garlic cooked. Add tomatoes, salt to taste heat to simmer. Lower to gentle simmer cooking gently for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, intensify in color, as oils separate.

With a spoon forming wells in the sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, place lid on pan. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, until the whites are set and yolks warmed.

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