Anas Atassi says: “Watermelon and white cheese are delicious together and are often served as a dessert combination. And so I was inspired to create this simple salad, a fresh summer taste. It goes delightfully with most chicken and fish dishes.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 225g of halloumi (in slices 1cm thick)
• 1 small watermelon (cut into pieces)
• Seeds from 1 pomegranate
• 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
• 1 handful of fresh mint leaves

Method

Heat a grill pan on medium heat and grill the halloumi slices for 2 minutes on each side.

In a large bowl, toss the watermelon, grilled halloumi and pomegranate seeds with the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses.

Transfer the salad to a large serving dish, sprinkle with mint leaves and drizzle the second tablespoon of pomegranate molasses.

From Sumac by Anas Atassi (£25, Murdoch Books), out now

Josh Katz says: “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like grilled halloumi. There’s something about its salty, rubbery texture, which, when charred over fire, becomes irresistible.”

Serves 4 as a starter

Ingredients

For the pineapple ketchup

• 150g pineapple flesh, very thinly sliced
• 75g dried apricots
• 35g caster sugar
• 50ml cider vinegar
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 red chilli, finely diced

For the fennel salad

• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced or shaved with a mandoline
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• Combination of picked dill, mint and flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 5g chives, sliced into 2.5cm batons
• Pinch of sumac
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
• Flaked sea salt and ground black pepper

For the grilled halloumi

• 2 halloumi cheeses (approx. 500g in total)
• 60ml olive oil

Method

To make the pineapple ketchup, bring the pineapple, apricots, sugar and vinegar to the boil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 12-15 minutes, or until the pineapple is tender and the apricot softened.

Drain the fruits, reserving the cooking liquor in a cup, and transfer to a food processor. Blend the pineapple with the lemon juice and slowly add the reserved cooking liquor until completely smooth, neither too dry, nor too loose, with the consistency of mango chutney. Pass the ketchup through a sieve until smooth, then fold the red chilli through.

For the fennel salad, combine the fennel, red onion and herbs in a bowl. Add the sumac, lemon juice and olive oil, and stir through. The salad should be lightly coated, not wet. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add more lemon juice if needed.

For the grilled halloumi, set a barbecue up for grilling over high heat directly over the burning embers. Alternatively, set a ridged cast-iron skillet over high heat until smoking hot.

The grill needs to be searing hot to prevent the halloumi from sticking. Unwrap the cheese and pat dry with kitchen paper. Slice each block of cheese into 4 pieces, roughly 1cm thick. 

Grill the halloumi for 2-3 minutes on both sides, turning 45° halfway through the cooking of both sides to form a crosshatch pattern. Resist the urge to meddle with the cheese too much. It should form a deep char mark that will naturally cause it to unstick itself from the grill when it’s ready to be turned.

Transfer the halloumi to a serving plate, dot each piece of cheese with a dollop of pineapple ketchup and a small handful of the fennel and herb salad, then finish with an overly generous glug of olive oil around the plate.

From Berber & Q: On Vegetables by Josh Katz (£25, Kyle Books), out now

Helen Graves says: “Barbecued halloumi has fallen out of fashion, which is just a horrible mistake. I love to serve it with perfumed summer fruits like nectarines, and lots of soft herbs. Brushing the halloumi with oil before grilling it stops it sticking to the barbecue, which I think (I hope) is what puts a lot of people off cooking it. It’s an intense, salty cheese, which in my opinion is a selling point.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 ripe nectarines, stoned and quartered
• A little neutral oil, for cooking the nectarines
• Handful of tarragon, leaves picked
• Small handful of basil leaves, torn
• ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 500g halloumi, cut into roughly 1 cm thick slices
• Sea salt

Method

Prepare a barbecue for direct cooking over medium heat. Brush the cut sides of the nectarines with a little neutral oil, then grill cut side down over direct heat, turning occasionally with tongs, for about 5 minutes, or until charred and softened.

Once cool enough to handle, dice the grilled nectarines and combine in a bowl with the tarragon, basil, chilli flakes, lemon and lime juices and a little salt.

Rub the halloumi slices with a little neutral oil to stop them sticking, and grill quickly over direct heat for a minute or so on each side, or until charred. Serve immediately, with the nectarine mixture.

To cook indoors: Preheat a cast-iron griddle pan over a high heat for at least 5 minutes, then rub the nectarines with a little neutral oil and cook, cut side down, for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until charred and softened. Rub the halloumi with oil and cook for a minute or so on each side, or until charred.

From Live Fire by Helen Graves (£26, Hardie Grant), out now