This recipe pairs spicy roasted chicken with aromatic fennel and pasta for a savory, comforting, and easy dinner.
Juicy roasted chicken, aromatic fennel, and Calabrian-spiked pasta sauce make this a savory, spicy dinner you’ll want on repeat.
This roasted chicken with pasta and fennel combines all of my favorite things. Crisp, juicy chicken legs, pasta coated in a glossy, spicy sauce, and aromatic fennel.
Best of all, you don’t need many ingredients for this simple dinner recipe, but it doesn’t go light on flavor. If you’re looking for a super savory dinner that’s easy to prepare, this roasted chicken with fennel needs to be at the top of your list.
How to make this spicy roasted chicken with fennel
What you need
- Chicken: I use whole chicken legs, but you can easily make this with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. You’ll just need to modify the cooking time to accommodate a different cut of chicken.
- Sauce: The sauce is made with onion, fennel, minced garlic, and chopped Calabrian chili peppers. If you don’t have chopped Calabrian chili peppers, you can use crushed red pepper to taste instead. I finish the sauce with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and fresh basil leaves.
- For serving: I add cooked orecchiette to the sauce, but the sauce would be equally delicious spooned over roasted potatoes or cooked polenta.
How to make it
Step 1: Brown the chicken. Heat a little olive oil in a wide, ovenproof pot. Pat the chicken dry and season it with salt and pepper. Add it to the hot pan skin-side down and brown for 5 minutes. Flip and cook briefly before removing it from the pot.
Step 2: Sauté the aromatics. Add the fennel and onion to the pot and sauté until softened. Add the garlic and Calabrian chili peppers and cook until just fragrant.
Step 3: Roast the chicken. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and arrange the chicken on top, skin-side up. Transfer to the oven for 35 to 45 minutes or until the chicken reaches 165ºF.
Step 4: Cook the pasta. As the chicken roasts, boil the orecchiette in salted water according to package directions. Reserve a bit of pasta water before draining the pasta.
Step 5: Finish the sauce. Remove the pot from the oven and transfer the chicken to a large serving platter. Tent it with foil. Return the sauce to a boil. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and fresh basil. Rapidly simmer the liquid until it reduces and thickens. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding pasta water as needed.
Step 7: Serve it up! Spoon the cooked pasta onto a large serving platter. Place a chicken leg on each plate and serve with the pasta on the side.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 chicken leg quarters (about 4 pounds total)
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion (peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced into thin wedges)
- 1 fennel bulb (trimmed, cored, and thinly sliced)
- 6 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons chopped Calabrian chili peppers
- 1½ cups chicken stock
- 12 ounces orecchiette
- 3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano (finely grated, yielding about 1 cup total; a few pinches reserved for garnish)
- 1 cup basil (loosely packed; a few leaves reserved for garnish)
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Prepare the chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Pat the chicken legs dry and season them with 4 teaspoons of kosher salt and 2 teaspoons of black pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in a wide, ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook without moving for 5 minutes. Flip and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Sauté the onion and fennel:
- Add the sliced onion and fennel to the pot and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes until softened. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the minced garlic and chopped Calabrian chili peppers. Sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat.
- Arrange the chicken, skin-side up, in the pot. Transfer the chicken to the oven and roast for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F at the thickest part of the leg.
Cook the pasta:
- As the chicken roasts, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Set aside.
Broil the chicken (optional):
- Turn on the broiler and broil for 2 to 3 minutes to brown the skin further. Remove from the oven.
Finish the sauce:
- Carefully transfer the chicken to a large serving platter. Spoon 3 to 4 tablespoons of sauce from the pot over the chicken. Tent the chicken with foil as you finish the sauce.
- Bring the sauce in the pot to a boil. Tear the basil and add it to the sauce along with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Whisk to incorporate. Reduce the heat to medium-low and rapid-simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens. Taste and season.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce along with a few splashes of the reserved pasta water. Stir to coat. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Transfer the pasta to a serving platter. Finish with a few basil leaves and more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, if desired.
To serve:
- Spoon the pasta onto plates and serve with a chicken leg. Enjoy!
10/10!!! I don’t cook with fennel that often but this was really easy and flavorful. I used crushed red pepper since i didn’t have the jarred peppers. thank you, we all loved it!