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

So, hear me out: the most delicious egg dishes never require an oven. During recipe development, discovering that covering the pan produces a humid atmosphere to cook the top of the eggs, yielding tender perfectly poached egg featuring set whites and a warm, runny yolk. The intense, dry heat from baking is much more aggressive than steam, typically causing to dry everything out resulting in firm yolks. Here are two sauce options as inspiration, encouraging customization. Option one involves a straightforward coconut turmeric blend, while the merguez ragu is a riff on traditional spicy eggs, essentially, eggs baked in spicy tomato sauce.

Turmeric Coconut Curry Baked Eggs (featured)

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 minutes
Serves Two servings

Olive oil
1 onion, skinned and diced
Sea salt
Two garlic cloves, minced garlic
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
Cumin seeds
Curry leaves
200ml coconut milk
400g tin chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Four eggs
Fresh chilies, julienned, as garnish

Heat a cast-iron pan on a medium-high heat. Add a shot of olive oil, incorporate onions seasoned with salt, fry until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, allow to cook, stirring occasionally for three to four minutes, then tip in the coconut milk including chickpea can contents. Heat until boiling, lower heat to gentle cook, and leave it to tick over for half an hour, when sauce is rich and yellow. Adjust seasoning, then stir in the basil leaves.

With a spoon’s back forming small wells in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs lightly salted, cover the skillet, and cook on a low heat for a few minutes, until egg whites firm with yolks still runny. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, and serve.

Spicy Sausage Sauce and Pickled Peppers Baked Eggs

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes
Serves Two

Olive oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
Toasted cumin
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
400g good-quality tinned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Chopped herbs, minced
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
Fresh lemon, cut into wedges, as garnish

Use a heavy pan on a medium heat. Drizzle olive oil and, once it’s warm, peel sausages forming small bits into the skillet, like mini balls. Lower temperature, cook until golden, releasing flavorful oils. Move sausage pieces as they cook, to brown evenly.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic into the skillet, increase to medium heat and cook, stirring, briefly, until aromatic, and garlic softens. Pour in tomato contents, season with salt heat to simmer. Reduce to low heat and leave to blip away about 20 minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

Employ utensil forming wells within sauce, then crack an egg into each. Season eggs with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, until whites firm with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, parsley, a blob of yoghurt, and a drizzle of oil, accompanied by lemon.