So, hear me out, the best baked eggs don't ever hit the oven... When testing these recipes, I found that simply adding a lid creates a steamy environment to cook the top of your eggs, delivering a gently cooked, perfectly poached egg with a tender white and a warm, runny yolk.
The intense, dry heat of the oven is much more aggressive than steam and can dry everything out and overcook the yolk. A heavy, cast-iron pot or sauté pan is your best bet for an even cook on your eggs. They usually come with a snug lid to trap in the steam and the thick, heavy metal holds on to heat well, and evenly distributes it, ensuring a balanced cook. Oh, and make sure you crack your eggs into an egg cup or espresso cup before gently sliding them into your sauce. This way, if any broken shell sneaks in there, it's easy to whip out before it gets lost in the sauce.
I've given you two sauces as a jumping off point, but get creative. The first is a super simple turmeric coconut curry, and the merguez ragù is a riff on eggs in purgatory, or to the likes of you and me, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.
Both recipes serve two.
For the turmeric coconut curry
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 10g fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- ½ tbsp cumin seeds
- 6-8 curry leaves
- 200ml coconut milk
- 400g tin chickpeas
- Pinch of basil leaves, plus extra to serve
- 4 eggs
- 2 green finger chillies
- Olive oil
- Fine sea salt
Method
- Preheat an ovenproof 25cm frying pan or similar over a medium-high heat. Finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Add a shot of olive oil to the pan and toss in the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes until starting to crisp and caramelise, then add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Sizzle for 3-4 minutes before adding the coconut milk and chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it tick over for 30-35 minutes until thickened and the colour is a deep yellow. Season with salt and finish with the basil leaves.
- Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets in your sauce then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt then cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 2-3 minutes over a low heat, until the white is set and the yolk is just warm. Remove from the heat and finish with some extra basil leaves and thinly sliced finger chillies.
For the merguez ragù and pickled peppers
Ingredients
- 2 merguez-style lamb sausages
- 2 garlic cloves
- Pinch of flat-leaf parsley
- 1 lemon
- Handful of pickled peppers
- 1 tbsp harissa, plus a little extra
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
- 4 eggs
- 3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
- Olive oil
- Fine sea salt
Method
- Preheat a 25cm frying pan or similar over a medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and, once warm, remove the skins from the merguez sausages and pinch small amounts into the pan, almost like little meatballs. Reduce the heat and slowly brown the sausage, rendering out the spicy, flavour-packed fat. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan as they cook to colour all sides.
- While the merguez cooks, thinly slice the garlic, finely chop the parsley, cut the lemon into wedges and roughly chop the peppers. Once brown add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic to the pan, increase the heat to medium and cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Tip in the tomatoes, season with salt and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat to low and let it blip away for 20 minutes. The ragu will reduce, thicken and deepen in colour while the oils split out and rise to the top of the pan.
- Use the back of a spoon to create four little pockets in your sauce then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 2-3 minutes over a low heat, until the white is set and the yolk is just warm. Remove from the heat and finish with chopped pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, a drizzle of oil and a lemon wedge.
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How I Cook: A chef’s guide to really good home cooking, with over 100 recipes by Ben Lippett, published by Harper Collins, is out now.
