Coconut Turmeric Curry and Spicy Sausage Sauce: Ben Lippett's Baked Eggs Recipes

Consider this: the most delicious egg dishes are made without baking. Through culinary experiments, realizing that using a cover produces a humid atmosphere to cook the top of the eggs, yielding tender perfectly poached egg with firm whites plus liquid yolk. Direct oven heat from baking proves harsher versus moist heat, and has a tendency making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. I’ve given you two sauces to get started, though feel free to experiment. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, whereas the spicy sausage sauce is a riff on traditional spicy eggs, or simply put, spicy tomato eggs.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 minutes
Cooking time 55 minutes
Serves Two people

Extra virgin oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt
Two garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
Turmeric powder
Toasted cumin
Aromatic leaves
Creamy coconut
400g tin chickpeas
Fresh basil, plus extra to serve
Four eggs
2 green finger chillies, thinly cut, for serving

Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high flame. Drizzle olive oil, toss in the onion seasoned with salt, and cook for five to six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds and curry leaves, leave to sizzle, occasionally stirring for three to four minutes, then tip in the coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Bring to a boil, 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.

Employ a utensil to create four little pockets in the sauce, then crack an egg into each. Dust each egg lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid, simmer over low heat for two to three minutes, when whites are cooked and the yolks just warm. Turn off stove, finish with a few extra basil leaves and sliced chilies, then serve immediately.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation Quick prep
Cook 45 min
Serves Two

Oil
Merguez sausages
Harissa paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Canned tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Fresh eggs
Pickled peppers, diced
1 small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, diced
Creamy yogurt
1 lemon, wedge-cut, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and break off pieces into the skillet, resembling tiny meatballs. Reduce heat, cook until golden, extracting spicy fats. Roll the merguez pieces around the pan during cooking, for even browning.

When golden, add the harissa, cumin seeds and sliced garlic into the skillet, increase to medium heat sauté while stirring, for three to four minutes, when fragrant, and the garlic has lost its raw edge. Add tomatoes, season with salt and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to low cooking gently for twenty minutes. Sauce will thicken, thicken and deepen in colour, with oils separating and surfacing.

With a spoon to create four little pockets in the sauce, break eggs in. Dust with salt with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Heat for minutes gently, when eggs set with yolks runny.

Remove from heat, top with pickled peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, and a drizzle of oil, with lemon on side.