How to make pan roasted chicken with pears and fennel

We think of orchard fruits as the basis for puddings, but they can also mellow strong savoury flavours. Julia Platt Leonard uses them here to counterpoint fennel for a right royal feast

(Julia Platt Leonard)

“It is, in my view, the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption.” Food writer Edward Ashdown Bunyard (1878-1939) had a point. While we’d happily pluck an apple off a tree and munch away, we wouldn’t with a pear because it’s not ripe.

A pear picked fresh off the tree is too hard and hasn’t developed the mellow sweetness we want. But give it a bit of time to ripen off the branch and it’s something altogether different.

While pears are a joy to eat raw, they’re not too shabby cooked either. Some heat and a pear’s honeyed tones are revealed nicely.

We’re spoiled for choice with pears in autumn so it’s the perfect time to serve them up in sweet and savoury combinations.

This recipe matches them with bone-in chicken thighs and wedges of fennel which add a nice aniseed bite to the dish. A healthy hit of butter mingled with the juices from the chicken don’t hurt either.

Pan roasted chicken thighs with pears and fennel

Serves 3-4

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1 large pear, ripe but firm
I fennel bulb
25g butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
40g plain flour
1 tsp paprika
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful of parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat in a heavy pan with lid that is large enough to hold the chicken thighs. Slice the fennel and pear into 8 wedges each. Place the fennel wedges in the pan, give them a stir to coat in the fat and place the lid on. Cook them for 5-10 minutes until they have softened enough so a knife slips in easily and they’ve darkened in colour. Remove from the pan and place in a bowl.

Repeat with the pear. Cooking time for the pear will vary depending on how ripe it is, but around 5 minutes as well. Remove the pear and add to the fennel.

Trim any excess skin and fat from the chicken thighs and set them aside. In a shallow bowl, place the flour, paprika and generously season with salt & pepper. Dredge each thigh in the flour and place skin side down in the pan with the fat. If the fat is running low, add another knob of butter and splash of olive oil. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the skin is nicely browned. Turn and cook for another 2-3 minutes then turn down the heat to low or place in a low oven to finish cooking.

Pierce a thigh with a skewer to ensure the juices run clear, then remove the thighs from the pan. Add the lemon juice and parsley and turn the heat up to medium high to deglaze the pan. Add the chicken, fennel and pears back to the pan and cook for a few minutes until everything is warmed through.

@Juliapleonard