Baked chicken with citrus, fennel and white wine
Sardinians love to braise meat with olives, to impart a delicious, olive-scented saltiness. They also love to cook fennel beneath braising meat, so it becomes soft and sweet from the meat juices. This chicken tray bake with orange and fennel – which is based on a brilliant Nigella recipe, a favourite when I lived in England – gets the Sardinian treatment, and has now become a solid staple in our home.
SERVES 4-6
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
and 1 orange
3tsp Dijon mustard
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
plus extra for drizzling 2tsp sea salt
2tsp fennel seeds
650ml white wine
2 fennel bulbs, fronds
reserved to serve 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken
thighs
Handful of green olives
1
Make a marinade with the citrus zest and juice, mustard, oil, salt, fennel seeds and wine. Slice each fennel bulb into quarters lengthways, and then each quarter lengthways into three.
Place the chicken, fennel and marinade in a sealable plastic bag and chill in the fridge for at least a few hours, but preferably overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas mark 6. Decant the entire contents of the bag into a roasting tin, arranging the chicken skinside up, on top. Scatter over the olives. Drizzle a little more oil on top of the chicken to help it brown.
Place the tin in the oven and cook for 1hr, until the chicken is
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cooked and the fennel is tender. Remove from the oven and reduce the sauce for a minute or two, either by placing the whole tin over the hob, or decanting the liquid and reducing it in a separate saucepan. It should become a delicious sticky gravy consistency.
Drizzle with sauce and fresh fennel fronds to serve.
5
2 Add the now hot stock, ladle by ladle, stirring after each addition until the rice absorbs the liquid. The whole cooking process should take 17-20min.
Once the rice is al dente and the liquid mostly evaporated, set aside for the mantecatura or creaming. With a wooden spoon, beat in the rest of the butter, the mascarpone and Parmesan. Beat well, for a minute or two, until a luscious creamy sauce is formed.
Add some of the orange juice and half the zest, check the seasoning, adding salt and more orange juice to taste, and serve with an extra dollop of mascarpone and the rest of the zest scattered over the top.
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3 strips of lemon zest
100g small black olives 5 fresh bay leaves
¼ lemon, in segments
Sea salt
Pinch of caster sugar 1 bunch of parsley, chopped FOR THE SAFFRON AIOLI (See cook's note for method opposite)
2 egg yolks
¼tsp saffron strands soaked
in 2tbsp hot water
1tsp sea salt
1tsp mustard (optional) 2 garlic cloves, crushed 200ml best quality extra
virgin olive oil
100ml neutral (flavourless)
oil, such as sunflower 2tbsp lemon juice
1
Prepare the artichokes. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the juice of two lemons. Take the artichoke and discard the outer green petals, until you expose the yellow inner ones.
Using a peeler, remove the coarse outside of the base and stem, until the paler, smooth flesh is exposed. Take a sharp knife and cut the tip of the bud off, aiming about halfway down. Discard the tip. Cut the bud in half lengthways, scoop out the fluffy choke and discard. Place the halves in water until ready to cook.
Heat the oil in a wide, lidded frying pan. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, then add the fennel slices, seeds and chilli. Cook over a medium heat until the fennel just begins to catch and take colour (around 5min), then add the sage leaves. Cook for another minute or two, stirring, then add the artichokes.
Stir everything until well coated in oil and cook for a few minutes, until the artichokes begin to turn light golden. Add the tomatoes, wine and strips of lemon zest. Cover and cook over a low heat for 40min, until the fennel and artichokes are tender and the tomatoes and wine have formed a thick sauce. 5 Add the olives, bay and lemon segments, followed by salt and sugar to taste. Stir and simmer for another 5min. Add the chopped parsley. Spoon the artichokes onto plates and serve with a spoonful of aioli.
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