Chicken with fennel, lemon and beans
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
Crispy skinned chicken thighs and butter beans make for a hearty but uplifting one pot stew. Fennel, olive, lemon and bay is one of my favourite combinations and it works so well with chicken.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs (skin on)
- 2–3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to serve
- 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only
- 1 bulb of garlic, cloves smashed and skins removed
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 head of fennel, roughly chopped
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 unwaxed lemon, pared zest and a little juice only
- 125ml/4fl oz white wine
- 100g/3½oz green olives (drained weight)
- 2 x 400g tins butter beans and their liquor
- small bunch of parsley or tarragon (about 30g/1oz)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
First fry the chicken thighs skin-side down, in a heavy based plan with a good splash of olive oil. Season them from above with salt so that it penetrates the meat as they cook. Fry until the chicken skin is golden and crispy.
While they’re frying, finely chop the rosemary and a large clove of garlic.
Turn the thighs over briefly brown the other side then add the rosemary and garlic to the pan. Allow the herbs and garlic to infuse in the chicken fat, but before the garlic takes on any colour pour the contents of the pan into a bowl and set to one side. This gets a lovely infusion of rosemary and garlic into the chicken thighs. Just be careful, the flavour of overcooked garlic can be very overpowering.
Add the onion, fennel, the remaining garlic, fennel seeds and bay leaves to the pan. Season with salt and cook gently in the olive oily chicken fat.
Using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel the zest from the lemon, pressing as lightly as possible to just get the yellow flesh without the white bitter pith. Add this to the pan.
Pour in the white wine, add the olives and slowly cook until the flavours come together and the fennel softens. Then add the beans, mix well bring to a simmer and taste, adjusting the seasoning with salt and pepper as necessary.
Place the chicken thighs on top (skin-side up), nestling them into the beans. Cover with a lid and cook on a low simmer for 15 minutes.
Finish with some finely chopped parsley or tarragon and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a small squeeze of lemon juice.
