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So, hear me out: the best baked eggs are made without baking. When testing these recipes, realizing that using a cover generates steam to cook the top of the eggs, resulting in perfectly cooked delicately prepared egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat from baking proves harsher versus moist heat, and has a tendency making dishes dry resulting in firm yolks. I’ve given you two sauces as a jumping-off point, but get creative. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, and the second offers a merguez ragu is a riff on eggs in purgatory, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 minutes
Yields Two people

Extra virgin oil
One medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt
2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
Toasted cumin
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, with more for garnish
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium-high heat. Pour in some 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, let them sizzle, mixing now and then for a few minutes, pour in creamy liquid including chickpea can contents. Let it bubble, lower heat to gentle cook, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

With a spoon’s back forming small wells across the base, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, then cover the pan with a lid, and cook on a low heat briefly, when whites are cooked with yolks still runny. Take off the heat, top with fresh herbs and thinly sliced finger chillies, ready to enjoy.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 min
Yields 2

Olive oil
Spicy lamb sausages
Spicy paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Tomato base
Salt
Four eggs
Tangy peppers, roughly chopped
Fresh parsley, minced
Greek yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages forming small bits of the meat into the pan, almost like little meatballs. Lower temperature, brown the meat slowly, so it renders out all that spicy, flavour-packed fat. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, so they colour on all sides.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic to the pan, increase to medium heat sauté while stirring, for three to four minutes, until aromatic, and garlic softens. Add tomatoes, season with salt heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat cooking gently for 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, become richer and darker, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil making indentations across base, then crack an egg into each. Dust with salt with a little salt, cover skillet. Cook for two to three minutes gently, until whites firm with yolks runny.

Take off the heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, plus oil drizzle, accompanied by lemon.