Pollo al limone al forno — lemon chicken with fennel and potatoes roasted with white wine

meat Italian · easy · 90 min, including 25 hands-on

Golden-skinned chicken leg pieces on potatoes and fennel, roasted without liquid before a splash of white wine, with lemon added in three stages: zest beneath the skin, slices softened under the fennel, and fresh juice at the table. Bright pan juices without bitterness.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 210°C fan. Wash the potatoes, cut into 3 cm wedges and dry thoroughly. Cut the fennel into 2 cm wedges, leaving a little of the base attached to hold them together; reserve the green fronds. Finely grate the zest from half the lemon, then squeeze that half to obtain 20 g juice and set it aside in a glass. Cut 4 very thin slices from the other, unzested half and remove the seeds: leave the peel on, as it softens during roasting and adds flavour; it is the white pith alone that is bitter.
2. Put the potatoes and fennel in a large metal roasting dish with 30 g oil, 5 g salt and half the pepper. Coat thoroughly and spread in a single layer, without any liquid. Tuck the unpeeled garlic cloves under the vegetables to protect them. Roast on the middle shelf for 20 minutes: the edges of the wedges should start to turn golden.
3. Meanwhile, pat the chicken pieces dry with kitchen paper. Mix 15 g oil, the lemon zest, the leaves from 2 thyme sprigs, 4 g salt and the remaining pepper. Rub over the chicken, including under the thigh skin by sliding your fingers between skin and flesh. Never wet the skin with lemon juice, which would stop it browning. Leave covered at room temperature during the vegetables' 20-minute initial roasting.
4. Take out the dish. Push the vegetables towards the edges to clear the centre, and tuck the 4 lemon slices under fennel wedges, protected from direct heat. Place the 4 chicken pieces in the centre, directly on the base, skin side up, without covering them with vegetables; tuck the 2 whole thyme sprigs beneath the meat. Pour the wine onto the hot base around the chicken, never over the skin: it sizzles and the alcohol evaporates immediately, a technique called sfumare. Roast for 45–50 minutes.
5. After 25 minutes, turn only the vegetables and baste them with the pan juices; leave the chicken skin exposed to the heat without basting it. If the base is dry at this point, pour the 50 g hot water into a corner of the dish: the base should stay glossy, never black.
6. Start checking after 45 minutes: the skin should be golden and crisp and the thickest part of the chicken at least 74°C, without the probe touching the bone. Without a thermometer, pierce near the bone: the juices should run clear with no trace of pink. The potatoes should be golden and yield to a knife tip without resistance, and the fennel should be soft with caramelised edges. If the chicken is ready before the vegetables, set it aside on a warm platter and cook the vegetables for another 5–10 minutes. Taste a potato and adjust the salt.
7. Rest the chicken on a warm platter for 7 minutes, leaving the skin uncovered. Remove the thyme stalks, squeeze the soft garlic from its skins into the juices, add the reserved 20 g lemon juice and scrape up the browned juices with a wooden spoon. Serve one thigh and one drumstick per person, the vegetables and softened lemon slices, with the juices around the meat and the finely chopped fennel fronds scattered over, on warm plates.

On your plate

Cooking tips

Choose a wide enough dish: crowded vegetables would steam rather than roast. Add the lemon in three stages: zest over and under the skin, slices softened under the fennel, then fresh juice at the end. Remove the seeds from the slices. The day before, the chicken can be coated in the oil, zest, thyme and salt mixture and refrigerated; keep potatoes cut the day before submerged in cold water in the fridge and dry them thoroughly before oiling. Store the fennel dry in a container. Liquid evaporates less in a glass or ceramic dish, so the reserved water will not be needed. Reheat leftovers uncovered for 20 minutes at 180°C, then add a little fresh lemon juice. Nutrition is calculated using the chicken's bone-in weight and overestimates the edible portion.

Equipment : 35 × 25 cm metal roasting dish, fine grater, cooking thermometer

Home cooking from southern Italy, including Sicily and Puglia: pollo con patate e finocchi al forno, deglazed with white wine, with lemon in three stages. Thyme, or timo, is a deliberate choice: the more traditional rosemary is the hallmark of the companion rosemary chicken recipe.