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So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. Through culinary experiments, I found that simply adding a lid generates steam that gently cooks the eggs, yielding tender delicately prepared egg with a tender white and flowing center. Direct oven heat of the oven is much more aggressive compared to steaming, and has a tendency making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. I’ve given you two sauces as inspiration, encouraging customization. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on classic tomato-baked eggs, or, to the likes of you and me, spicy tomato eggs.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 min
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, trimmed and minced
Salt
Two garlic cloves, minced garlic
Fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp cumin seeds
Aromatic leaves
Coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Four eggs
Fresh chilies, finely sliced, for serving

Use a heavy skillet over medium-high flame. Add a shot of olive 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, mixing now and then for three to four minutes, pour in creamy liquid and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, let it simmer for half an hour, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back to create four little pockets in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, cover the skillet, gently heat for two to three minutes, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, finish with a few extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 min
Yields Two

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
1 tbsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Canned tomatoes
Seasoning
4 eggs
Pickled peppers, roughly chopped
Chopped herbs, diced
Greek yogurt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Use a heavy pan at moderate temperature. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, take off sausage casings and pinch small amounts adding to pan, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Stir merguez during cooking, so they colour on all sides.

Once browned, incorporate harissa, cumin, and garlic into the skillet, increase to medium heat fry with mixing, for three to four minutes, until aromatic, with garlic cooked. Pour in tomato contents, season with salt heat to simmer. Turn down the heat to low and simmer slowly about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, as oils separate.

Use the back of a spoon forming wells across base, break eggs in. Season eggs with a little salt, cover skillet. Simmer briefly on low flame, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm.

Remove from heat, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, and serve with lemon wedges.