🔗 Share this article

Let me explain: the best baked eggs are made without baking. When testing these recipes, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked perfectly poached egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat of the oven is much more aggressive than steam, often leading to dry everything out and harden the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces as a jumping-off point, though feel free to experiment. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, and the second offers a merguez ragu reimagines traditional spicy eggs, essentially, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 min
Cook Just under an hour
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
1 tbsp ground turmeric
Toasted cumin
Curry leaves
Coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Four eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, to serve

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Add a shot of olive oil, add the chopped onion with some salt, fry until softened. Incorporate aromatics and spices, allow to cook, stirring occasionally for a few minutes, then tip in the coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer about 35 minutes, when sauce is rich and yellow. Season with salt, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back making four indentations within the sauce, add eggs individually. Season eggs lightly salted, cover the skillet, simmer over low heat for two to three minutes, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, garnish with more basil plus chili slices, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Prep 10 min
Cooking time 45 min
Serves Two

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
Cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
Canned tomatoes
Seasoning
Four eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, diced
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 over medium flame. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and, once it’s warm, peel sausages and pinch small amounts adding to pan, like mini balls. Lower temperature, brown the meat slowly, extracting spicy fats. Stir merguez during cooking, for even browning.

After browning, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, until aromatic, and garlic softens. Pour in tomato contents, salt to taste heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently for 20 minutes. Sauce will thicken, thicken and deepen in colour, while the oils split and rise to the top.

With a spoon making indentations across base, add eggs individually. Dust with salt lightly salted, cover skillet. Simmer briefly over a low heat, when eggs set and yolks warmed.

Turn off stove, top with pickled peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and oil splash, with lemon on side.