Roast Chicken With Fennel

Roast Chicken With Fennel

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed
2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 whole (about 3-pound) chicken, cut up, or about 3 pounds
drumsticks and thighs
Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish
Lemon wedges

1. Heat oven to 450F. Drizzle bottom of shallow roasting pan or
baking sheet with about half the olive oil and cover it with a
layer of the fennel. Overlap pieces if necessary but use whole
pan. Drizzle remaining oil over fennel and sprinkle with salt and
pepper. Roast about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut up chicken if
necessary and sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper.

2. Top fennel with the chicken parts, skin side up. Ideally, you'll
have a layer of fennel pretty much covered by a layer of chicken,
but it's fine if some of the fennel roasts uncovered. Spoon some
of the oil from bottom of pan over chicken. Roast about 15
minutes, then baste chicken with pan drippings and rotate the pan.
If necessary, adjust oven temperature so chicken browns but does
not burn.

3. The chicken will be done in about 30 minutes. Serve each piece
with some fennel and a little of the pan juices spooned over,
garnished with parsley and a lemon wedge.