Oven-baked chicken with fennel

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 3 chicken legs
• 2 fennel bulbs
• 8 shallots
• 1 chili pepper(s)
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 50 g black olives, pitted
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• 2 oranges, organic
• 2 tsp mustard, medium hot
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• some salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 15 minutes

Rinse the chicken thighs, skin if desired, and pat dry. Trim the fennel, remove the stalk, and cut the bulbs into coarse strips. Set some of the green parts aside for later garnishing. Peel the shallots and cut into coarse wedges. Wash the chili pepper, slice, deseed, and finely chop. Drain and set aside the olives. Wash the thyme, shake dry, strip the leaves, and roughly chop. Wash the oranges, zest one of them, then juice both and reserve the juice. Mix the olive oil, fennel seeds, orange juice, orange zest, mustard, chili, and thyme to make a marinade and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken thighs in an ovenproof dish and scatter the fennel, shallots, and olives alongside. Pour the marinade over the chicken thighs and marinate in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) and roast the chicken thighs for about 45 minutes. Arrange the chicken thighs and vegetables on plates and serve sprinkled with some of the fennel greens.