1. Preheat the oven to 375F. 

At the same time, place a large (I use a 12 inch) cast iron skillet inside the oven to preheat. I don’t oil it until after it’s heated up.

2. Prep the fennel seeds.

Place the 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds in a saucepan or small frying pan and heat over low heat, stirring from time to time until they are fragrant (2-3 minutes). Then turn off the heat. Finely chop or crush the seeds using a mortar and pestle.

3. Thinly slice the onions and fennel.

Some people say to core the fennel, but I’ve never found the core to be an issue if you slice thinly. So, just slice it thinly.

Cut the apples into 4 quarters (remove the core). 

4. Prep the chicken.

Once the oven has preheated, take out the cast iron skillet. Spray it down with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to avoid sticking, then place the onions, fennel, and apple into the pan. They should sizzle a bit when they get into the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and another tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the onions, fennel, and apple well in the pan. I also toss 2 of the rosemary sprigs in here at the same time to coat them with olive oil, then take them out of the pan (you’ll put them onto the chicken shortly). Then arrange the onions and fennel like a nest, with a bit of a well in the center.

Place the chicken in the center of the nest. Rub about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the chicken, then sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the 2 teaspoons of fennel over the chicken. Rub the fennel and the salt into the olive oil all over the chicken. Add a bit more olive oil if needed. I use olive oil spray and a pair of disposable gloves (I’m squeamish when it comes to touching raw chicken) to accomplish this which makes it all much easier. 

Stuff the cavity with 2 sprigs of rosemary (not the ones you oiled earlier). Place 2 sprigs of the rosemary you tossed with olive oil earlier under the chicken’s legs (see picture below). Try to keep as much of the rosemary tucked into the chicken as possible so you don’t have burning. 

5. Place the chicken in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, toss the gnocchi in olive oil and 1/2 tsp of salt.

6. Add the gnocchi.

After 40 minutes, check the temperature of the chicken. It should be around 115F, give or take. The onion and the fennel should be starting to caramelize.

Pour the gnocchi around the chicken and carefully mix the gnocchi into the onion, fennel, and apple mixture. It doesn’t need to be mixed very well, the goal is just to get some of the gnocchi down with the chicken fat and onion/fennel. 

Place the chicken back into the oven to bake for approximately another 20-40 minutes (depends on the size of the chicken). The chicken is done when a thermometer at the deepest part of the breast (make sure you’re not poking through into the cavity!) reads 155F. Take it out of the oven at this point and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Don’t skip the resting – while it rests, the breast will come up to 165F.

7. Enjoy!