Jumping on the sheet pan dinner craze

Ciao ragazzi.  Annalena thinks you know, she's not much for trends.  A classicist at heart, she wants to do things the way they were done.  They worked.  So, why change?

Lately, a new "fad" has hit the cooking world.  This is the "sheet pan dinner" movement.  In broad terms, it means you prepare all your food, put it on a baking sheet, and after a certain length of time, you have a full dinner.  Skeptical?  So was Annalena.  But after having done a few of these, she's on board.  And she wants you to try one, adapted from the NY Times.  Annalena had a bunch to choose from, but since "everybody likes chicken," let's start there.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

What you see, meine Kinder, are two baking potatoes, a medium sized fennel bulb, a granny smith apple,  four chicken thighs (which weigh about 2.5 pounds, total), and in the pan, 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds. 

Now, not everyone has fennel seeds, or likes them.  If you would prefer to use something else, like cumin, go ahead.  Or leave it out.  But please do not leave out the fennel.  Cooking it will "tame" the anise type flavor that you may not like.  And you need something a bit "green" with this.  If you insist on not using it, please substitute about 6 ounces of celery. 

So, it is important to heat your oven to 425.  And, it is important to toast your seeds.  You see that Annalena has hers in a small frying pan.  No oil.  Medium heat, and shaking until you smell the toastiness.  This does not take long.  Then, put them in a bowl and, while they're hot (they're softer), crush them with a pestle, a bottle bottom, anything you can use to break them up.  Powder isn't necessary:

Next, you will prep your produce.  This means peeling the potatoes, and slicing the fennel and apple:

It took Annalena about two minutes to do this.  Now, on the assumption that your oven is hot, put the potatoes on a baking sheet, add a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of olive oil, toss them, and get them into the oven for about 10 minutes (potatoes take longer, so you give them a head start):

Spread them out as best you can, and then put the fennel, the onion, the apple, on top of this.  Distribute a tablespoon of oil over it, and another pinch of salt.

Now, take your chicken thights and just run them through your crushed fennel seeds.  Once you've done that, put them on top of the vegetables:

The oven now does the work for you.  Put the sheet into the oven and, depending on how well done you like your chicken, roast for 25-30 minutes (chicken thighs are very forgiving.  If you went past 30, it won't be a crime, unless you spent that 5 minutes colluding with Russia).  

If after that 30 minutes, you feel the chicken is not brown enough, that's what your broiler is for.  Use it for a minute at a time. Annalena used it twice, to get:

Looks good, doesn't it?  And it is.  This amount of ingredients will serve two.  Scale it up if you need to.  And if you REALLY have a problem with chicken thighs, you can use breasts, but you have to watch the cooking time, because they WILL dry out.  Using skinless chicken won't work.

If you are inclined, a bit of snipped rosemary is good here, but it is not essential.  

Ragazzi, this is a really good dish.  Go do your shopping, and make yourself a decent dinner.    Ciao for now.