When the days are long and the temperatures rise, the last thing anyone wants is to spend hours over a hot stove — or face a mountain of dishes after dinner.

From hasselback aubergine to lemon chicken, these meals are light, satisfying, and bursting with flavour – yet come with about as minimum fuss as you can possibly get…

Grace Mortimer has a new cook book out now (Photo: Haarala Hamilton Photography)

Hasselback halloumi-stuffed aubergines

Serves 4

2 aubergines, halved lengthways
225g block of halloumi
180g couscous
160g pomegranate seeds
1 bunch mint, leaves only, torn
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas mark 6.

Add the aubergine halves, flesh-side up, to an oven tray and drizzle generously with olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and gently flip them over. Use a knife to score deep lines into the soft skin, making sure not to cut all the way through.

Cut thin slices of halloumi from the block and slot them into each cut you have made, reserving the remainder of the halloumi.

Scatter the couscous around the aubergines and into all the gaps. Pour 50ml of boiling water over the couscous. Grate the remaining halloumi across everything and return to the oven for 20 minutes, until the halloumi is golden and crispy.

Remove from the oven, scatter with the pomegranate seeds and scatter over the torn mint leaves.

Season and drizzle a little olive oil across the top and you are ready to eat.

Bolognese flatbreds (Photo: Haarala Hamilton)

Bolognese-loaded flatbreads

Serves 4

220g plain yogurt
260g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
500g beef mince
500g passata
1 handful grated cheddar
Sunflower oil

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt and flour and bring the mixture together to form a pliable dough. If it is too wet, add a little extra flour; if it is too dry and crumbly, add a little extra yogurt.

On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into four to six flatbreads, then add them one at a time to a frying pan with a little oil over a medium heat. Once the bread starts to bubble and puff up, it is ready to flip. Cook on both sides until cooked all the way through, then set them aside.

Rinse the pan out then brown off the mince with a little oil and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Add the passata and reduce the heat to a simmer. Stirring occasionally, bring everything to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the mixture is almost starting to dry out. Check for seasoning.

Finally, assemble the dish by spooning some bolognese mixture on to each flatbread, followed by a little grated cheese, and serve.

Italian lemon chicken (Photo: Haarala Hamilton)

Italian lemon chicken

Serves 4

500g new potatoes
1 courgette, roughly chopped
1 handful pitted green olives
4-6 boneless skin-on chicken thighs
½ lemon
Sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas mark 6. Add everything except the lemon to an ovenproof dish, along with a good drizzle of oil. Season generously and mix.

Squeeze the lemon juice over the top then chop the squeezed-out half into pieces and nestle it among the other ingredients.

Cook for one hour, giving it all a good tumble halfway through.

Serve, spooning any remaining juices from the dish over the top.

One Pot Wonders by Grace Mortimer is published by HQ, £20