Saturday supper club

Stress-free entertaining with Melissa Hemsley

I’ll be honest: I slightly dread cooking for people in the summer heat. When I’m hosting on the stickiest of evenings, I make every effort to give myself a short to-do list so I can keep my cool, and choose a menu that’s prepped and ready to go before people arrive.

To start, my five-minute trout pâté is a crowd-pleaser; even friends who don’t usually like smoked fish end up asking for the recipe. And to follow, a hearty one-pan vegetarian frittata that I love because of its layers: delicious roast potatoes on the bottom, built up with black beans, mature cheddar cheese, spring onions and punchy pickled jalapeños. It’s just as good warm or at room temperature, so can be made in advance when it’s cooler and will free up your evening.

For dessert, my crumbles are light and great at any temperature. Strawberries and cherries are lovely together, and all you have to choose is what to serve them with: clotted cream, whipped double cream or good old vanilla ice cream?

MAIN Black bean frittata

STARTER Trout pâté

DESSERT Mini almond crumbles