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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs don’t ever hit the oven. Through culinary experiments, I found that simply adding a lid produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked perfectly poached egg featuring set whites and flowing center. Direct oven heat from baking is much more aggressive versus moist heat, typically causing to dry everything out and harden the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines eggs in purgatory, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (pictured above)

Prep 10 min
Cooking time Just under an hour
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, trimmed and minced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, minced ginger
Turmeric powder
½ tbsp cumin seeds
6-8 curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
Chickpeas
A few basil leaves, and additional for topping
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, as garnish

Use a heavy skillet on a medium-high heat. Drizzle olive oil, incorporate onions seasoned with salt, sauté for several minutes. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, let them sizzle, stirring occasionally for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, lower heat to gentle cook, let it simmer for 30-35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Adjust seasoning, then stir in the basil leaves.

With a spoon’s back forming small wells within the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with salt, place a lid on the pan, simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, ready to enjoy.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cook 45 minutes
Yields Two

Olive oil
2 merguez-style lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
Tomato base
Salt
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, coarsely cut
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
1 lemon, sliced into wedges, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot at moderate temperature. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, peel sausages and pinch small amounts adding to pan, almost like little meatballs. Turn down the heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, extracting spicy fats. Move sausage pieces while cooking, to brown evenly.

When golden, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame and cook, stirring, for several minutes, until aromatic, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste let it bubble. Reduce to low heat cooking gently for twenty minutes. The ragu will reduce, thicken and deepen in colour, as oils separate.

With a spoon to create four little pockets within sauce, add eggs individually. Dust with salt with salt, cover skillet. Cook for two to three minutes on low flame, until whites firm and the yolks just warm.

Remove from heat, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, accompanied by lemon.