Skip to main content

turning back the hands of time ... Chicken with fennel, red onion and pancetta



This is one of our favourite standby recipes which is a bastardisation of a recipe from the River cafe Easy (silver) book, which uses Guinea fowl instead of chicken. I first blogged about it in 2008 but I thought it was worth posting again having made it last week for the Lacosta massive who gave it a pretty universal thumbs up (they could have just been being polite of course!)

 Because it's a one tray bake it is very easy to make and prepare ahead, which makes it perfect for an easy lunch or dinner for a crowd. 

 It is also easy to double it up for a larger group but unless you have a humungous tray, and oven, then I would recommend going for two trays so that you can still arrange all the ingredients in one layer. If you don't you end up not only failing to brown the chicken very well but you also run the risk of poaching the chicken in the wine. 
Ingredients - serves 4


 8 pieces of chicken ( we use thighs or whole legs )

 5 garlic cloves

 2 tablespoons rosemary leaves

 2 red onion

 3 fennel bulbs

 Extra virgin olive oil

 125 gms pancetta ( one piece is best ) cut into 1cm pieces or lardons... or buy them ready chopped if you're feeling lazy but the bigger pieces work better.

 250ml white wine
Method

 Preheat the oven to 200C/ gas mark 6. 

 Peel and finely chop the garlic and chop the rosemary. 
Peel the onion, and cut the onion and fennel into wedges, sixths or eights depending on size ... try to cut them down the core so they stay in wedges rather than falling apart.

 Mix the garlic and rosemary with a generous helping of salt and pepper.

 Put the chicken into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and add the garlic mixture. Turn each piece over to coat thoroughly. 

 Put the chicken in one layer in a roasting tin and scatter the fennel, red onion and pancetta over. 

 Drizzle with olive oil and roast for 1/2 hour. 

 Add the wine, roast for further 20 minutes. Raise the heat to 225C/gas mark 9 for the last few minutes to brown.

Take the meat and vegetables out and put onto a warm serving dish. Then pour over the sauce. If it is too thin you can reduce it down over a high heat on the hob.

Serve with a green vegetable ... green beans is great ... and maybe some roast potatoes if you're feeding a hungry crowd. 

Comments

Lulu said…
We have had this so many times and it's so versatile, delicious and easy. When I say "I'm doing a Barry" I think this is what everybody thinks they are going to get as it's so delicious. We are having an Ottolenghi take on this tonight which is also delicious but in true Ottolenghi style requires more thought process which quite honestly I often don't have:

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/roasted-chicken-legs-with-dates-olives-and-capers-shop

and we are having it with

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/freekeh-pilaf-shop

I'm adding some roasted red pepper strips as the colours of the two are a bit dull.

Whilst I'm sharing what I am up to in the kitchen I made this on a night when both girls were blissfully back home and we all loved it even though we thought we hated turkey:

http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/turkey-courgette-burgers-with-spring-onion-cumin-a-shop

Extreme gardening tomorrow so I'm barbecuing some salmon steaks and doing Ottolenghi's Jersey Royal Potato salad with radishes and samphire which looks quick and easy (I'm adding loads of English asparagus too).

Lulu



April 16, 2016 at 8:23 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crack potatoes courtesy of Ottolenghi. Harissa and confit garlic roast potatoes

Another recipe from Ottolenghi's Simple, another recommendation from Will Saunders.   I know its the middle of summer but who doesn't love a roastie? These little tinkers are so good that they are like crack, class A calories. The clever bit is the addition of semolina and caraway seeds which adds a new level of crunchiness to add to the delicious warm heat of Harissa. Heres the recipe These make a lovely, spicy change from the traditional Sunday roasties. They’re especially good with spiced roast meat. Serves six to eight. 2 large heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled 130g goose or duck fat 4 sprigs fresh rosemary  6 sprigs fresh thyme  2kg maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks 40g ground semolina 2 tsp caraway seeds, toasted and lightly crushed 2 tbsp rose harissa Flaky sea salt Heat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Put the garlic, fat and herbs in a small ovenproof pan or saucepan for which you have a lid. Cover and roast for 40 minut
1 comment
Read more

Nigel Slaters deceptively brilliant monkfish

Lisa discovered this recipe in her favourite Nigel book. It is one of those fish, 'but not as we know it Jim' recipes. Not just because Monkfish is the fish that can best impersonate meat but also because of the marinade ingredients that are more often featured with lamb. It's not difficult to do but the flavour is a revelation, which makes it a perfect recipe in my book. This can be cooked on a grill pan or a barbecue. Ingredients 3 bushy sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped 4 anchovy fillets 2 large cloves garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 large lemon, juice only 3 tbsp olive oil 800g/1½lb monkfish fillet Method Pull the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them finely, then tip them into a bowl large enough to take the fish. Rinse the anchovy fillets and smash them to a rough pulp with the flat edge of your chopping knife. Peel the garlic, crush it flat, then smash it to a purée in the same way. Stir together the herb, anchovy and garlic, adding a grind
1 comment
Read more

Sea Bass on mushroom potatoes with salsa Verde

I felt the overwhelming need to cook something new on Saturday night. I didn't want the tired and tested I wanted to explore new culinary waters. However combined with this desire was an equal and opposing force, driven by being absolutely knackered, that meant it had to be simple too. I returned to one of Jamie's early books, to a recipe that IO had meant to do on countless occasions but never quite got round to. I have done several versions of Sea Bass on a bed of potatoes, some that I have written about on this blog. The one question I would have is about the thickness of the potatoes and the length of time they need to be cooked through ... in my oven I reckon they need about 10 minutes more than the recipe suggests. I would suggest a bit of a trial run if you are going to do it for a dinner party ... however once you have given it a whirl I think this makes for a very easy recipe for a crowd. Here's the recipe. Roasted slashed fillet of sea bass stuffed with herbs, bak
1 comment
Read more