Coconut Turmeric Curry and Spicy Sausage Sauce: The Chef's Oven-Free Egg Dishes Cooking Methods

Consider this: the best baked eggs never require an oven. When testing these recipes, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked soft-cooked egg with firm whites and a warm, runny yolk. The harsh, arid temperature from baking is much more aggressive compared to steaming, typically causing to dehydrate ingredients and overcook the yolk. Here are two sauce options as a jumping-off point, though feel free to experiment. The first features an easy golden coconut sauce, whereas the spicy sausage sauce reimagines traditional spicy eggs, or simply put, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Steamed Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 min
Cook Just under an hour
Serves Two servings

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
10g fresh ginger, grated ginger
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, plus extra to serve
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, finely sliced, as garnish

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt, sauté for several minutes. Incorporate aromatics and spices, let them sizzle, stirring occasionally for three to four minutes, add coconut milk along with chickpeas and liquid. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, and leave it to tick over for 30-35 minutes, until thickened and deep yellow in colour. Adjust seasoning, mix in fresh basil.

Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets within the sauce, add eggs individually. Sprinkle the top of each egg with salt, place a lid on the pan, and cook on a low heat briefly, until the whites are set with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, top with fresh herbs and sliced chilies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce with Tangy Peppers Steamed Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time Under an hour
Yields 2

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced garlic
Canned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, coarsely cut
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Creamy yogurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot over medium flame. Pour in oil when heated, remove the skins from the sausages and pinch small amounts of the meat into the pan, like mini balls. Lower temperature, then slowly brown the sausagemeat, releasing flavorful oils. Move sausage pieces as they cook, so they colour on all sides.

When golden, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic into the skillet, adjust to moderate flame fry with mixing, for several minutes, until the mix smells fragrant, and garlic softens. Add tomatoes, salt to taste let it bubble. Reduce to low heat cooking gently about 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, become richer and darker, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil making indentations in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, cover skillet. Heat for minutes over a low heat, until the whites are set with yolks runny.

Turn off stove, top with pickled peppers, parsley and yogurt, and oil splash, and serve with lemon wedges.