The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.
As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Chicken, fennel & date gremolata pasta
Chicken thigh and caramelised fennel pasta with caper, date, parsley and lemon sauce.
Prep in 10
High protein
New
6 plants
Low sat fat
Serving size
Ingredients
- ½ tsp red chilli flakes
- 2 fennel
- 20g pine nuts
- 2 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 30g Medjool dates
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 4 garlic clove
- 250g brown rice penne (Eggs)
- 80g baby spinach
- 40g capers (Water, Salt, Vinegar)
- 600g British Free Range chicken thighs
Nutritional Information
Calories: 631
Protein: 40g
Carbs: 59g
Fat: 26g
Chicken, fennel & date gremolata pasta
Chicken thigh and caramelised fennel pasta with caper, date, parsley and lemon sauce.
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Cooking Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 240C / fan 220C / gas mark 9. Boil a kettle. Trim and very thinly slice the fennel. Heat a large frying pan with 2 tsp oil on a medium-high heat. Add the fennel and a good pinch of sea salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until completely softened and turning golden, 15-20 mins.
- Place the chicken thighs onto a lined baking tray. Drizzle with 1 tsp oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. Bake for 15-20 mins until cooked through. Check your chicken is cooked through by inserting a skewer into the thickest part of the meat; the juices should run clear. Cook for longer if necessary. Once cooked, shred the chicken into pieces using two forks.
- Meanwhile, finely chop the parsley. Finely chop the dates. Zest and quarter the lemon. Grate the garlic. Roughly chop the capers.
- Make the gremolata; put the lemon zest, dates, half the parsley and a quarter of the garlic into a small bowl. Add a pinch of sea salt and 1 tbsp oil. Mix and set aside.
- Fill a large saucepan with salted boiling water. Add the penne and boil for 7 mins, then drain. Save 50ml of pasta water.
- Once soft, stir the remaining garlic and half the chilli flakes into fennel and cook for 1 min. Add in the reserved pasta water and spinach. Stir to combine then mix in the pasta, capers, remaining parsley, juice from the lemon and half the gremolata. Stir in the chicken. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Serve into bowls, topped with the remaining gremolata.
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