August 25th, 2009

Sometimes I find myself in the mood to cook, without much time for planning. In these times, I don’t have the luxury of looking up a recipe and running out to the store to get all of the perfect ingredients. In these times, I’m happy to have fennel on hand.
Fennel needs a better PR department. It is wholly under-appreciated by many people who are averse to that anise/black licorice flavor. Not me! Though I would still give all of my black jelly beans away to my Dad (he loves’em!), a little bit of aromatics adds spunk to a vegetable like fennel. Fennel is so versatile it can be chopped up in a salad, roasted, or sautéed like below. And it’s a lot fancier than broccoli, right?
E was coming over for dinner and I had some chicken breasts, fennel, mushrooms and pasta that I figured could lead to a great dinner. But I needed inspiration. I consulted with some of my Twitter buds, Evan Dawson (of Lenndevours) and Catie (Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman) to develop a recipe. The result is this nourishing, flavorful dinner, made with basic ingredients. Perfect for a weeknight in!
Enjoy!
Serves 2
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 fennel bulb
1/4 package whole wheat spaghetti
1 package of cremini mushrooms, washed, and sliced in half
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
Parsley, a generous handful, coarsely chopped
1 lemon
8 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tbsp olive oil
Splash of chicken stock
1 tsp honey
Fresh thyme, a few sprigs
Salt and pepper, to taste
1. Chop the fennel bulb away from its wispy stem and discard the stem. Cut the bulb into quarters.
2. Wash the chicken and pound it with a mallot, for a thinner breast which will absorb more of the flavors. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Soften the fennel in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes until slightly soft, but not cooked through. Empty the water from the pot and put the fennel on the side.
4. Place a large skillet on the stove on medium-high heat. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic cloves. Add the fennel to the pan and sauté on each side of the fennel for a few minutes until slightly brown and until the pieces start to pull apart. Add salt, to taste. While the fennel sautes, refill the pot with water and bring to a rolling boil again, for the pasta.
5. When the fennel is done, remove from the pan and divide the pieces amongst 2 plates. Some of the garlic cloves will adhere to the fennel and some will remain in the pan for the chicken, that’s fine.
6. Add a splash of chicken stock to the pan and stir up all of the bits of garlic from the bottom. Add the honey to the sauce and stir together in the pan, then add the chicken breasts and turn down the heat to medium.
7. When the pot of water reaches a boil, add the pasta and cook for about 8 minutes, or until just soft.
8. While the chicken sautées add handfuls of parsley to the pan. Add the mushrooms and saute together for about 10 minutes, or 5 minutes on each side for the chicken. While the chicken and mushrooms cook, pluck some thyme leaves from your sprigs and add them to the pan.
9. Drain the pasta when done and place in a large bowl. Toss with remaining olive oil, salt to taste, and sundried tomatoes.
10. When the mushrooms are done, toss them with the pasta.
11. When the chicken is done, place a breast on each plate along side the fennel and spoon the pasta onto the plate, or serve in a bowl along side.
12. Serve with slices of lemon to squeeze on the chicken
Filed under Kosher Recipes, Poultry, Recipes | Comment (0)