What can I make with a courgette glut?

The problem with a courgette glut is that it arrives at exactly the moment your fridge is looking sparse. Three, four, maybe five courgettes sit in the vegetable drawer alongside half a block of cheese, some wilting herbs and whatever dried goods you forgot you had. A recipe site will cheerfully tell you to make courgette fritters with precisely measured flour and eggs, but that only works if you have the exact supporting cast. The reality is messier, and dinner still needs to happen.

The good news is that courgettes are one of the most accommodating vegetables in the kitchen. They soften quickly, take on other flavours happily, and stretch modest amounts of protein or carbs into something satisfying. The trick is working with what else you actually have, not what a recipe assumes you bought specially.

Quick courgette dinner ideas

If you have pasta and something salty in the cupboard, you are sorted. Slice the courgettes thinly, fry them in olive oil until they start to collapse, then toss through cooked pasta with grated cheese, a crumbled stock cube, chilli flakes or a few anchovies if you have them. The courgette releases enough moisture to create a light sauce without cream, and you can throw in any sad-looking spinach or frozen peas to bulk it out.

A courgette and egg situation works whether you have one egg or six. Grate the courgettes, squeeze out the water, then fold them into beaten eggs with whatever herbs or cheese you have knocking about. Fry spoonfuls in a pan for fritters, or tip the whole lot into an oiled dish and bake until set for a rough frittata. Serve it with bread, rice, or on its own with a dollop of yoghurt or any chutney lurking in the fridge door.

If you have rice or couscous and a tin of tomatoes, you can make a quick courgette stew. Chop the courgettes into chunks, soften an onion if you have one, add any spices that smell good together, tip in the tomatoes and let it simmer until everything is tender. Chickpeas, lentils or beans from a tin turn it into a full meal, and the courgettes practically dissolve into the sauce if you leave them long enough.

For something faster, slice courgettes into rounds, toss them with oil and whatever seasonings you like, then roast them until the edges brown. Pile them onto toast with a fried egg, or fold them into a wrap with hummus and any salad leaves that still have life in them. You can also stir roasted courgettes through grains, or serve them alongside any protein you were planning to cook anyway.

Why a decision engine beats a recipe list

Every courgette article on the internet offers the same handful of recipes, and none of them can see that you are also trying to use up half a lemon, a knob of ginger and some feta that needs eating. A printed recipe cannot adjust for the fact that you have no fresh herbs but three kinds of dried spice, or that your glut is five courgettes rather than two. Ask the Kitchen looks at the full picture, including what is about to go off, and suggests dinners that actually match your kitchen right now. That is the difference between a static list and a tool that adapts to what you have.

More dinners from what you've got

• How To Use Up A Glut Of Vegetables