Sheet-Pan Chicken with Roasted Plums and Onions

Source: Melissa Clark, New York Times Cooking

Ingredients

2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon or orange zest
4 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 tsp honey
¼ tsp ground allspice
large pinch red-pepper flakes, or to taste
1 (about 3½ lb) chicken, cut into parts
kosher salt and black pepper
2 cups ripe, soft plums, pitted and cut into ¾″ pieces
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 medium red onion, peeled and sliced from root to stem into ½″ wedges
olive oil, for drizzling
⅔ cup torn mint, basil, or cilantro leaves, or a combination
flaky sea salt, for serving

Method

Toast the fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Pour the seeds into a mortar and pound with a pestle until coarsely crushed (or lay the seeds on a cutting board and pound them with a can or jar).
Put the seeds into a large bowl and stir in the lemon juice, zest, garlic, honey, allspice, and red-pepper flakes.
Season the chicken generously all over with salt and pepper and add to the bowl, turning the pieces to coat them with the marinade. Mix in the plums and thyme sprigs. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
When ready to cook, heat the oven to 425°F. Put the chicken pieces, plums, and thyme sprigs on a rimmed baking pan. Add the onions, spreading them out around the chicken and plums. Season the plums and onions lightly with salt. Drizzle everything with olive oil.
Roast until the chicken is golden and cooked through, 30 to 45 minutes, removing the white meat if it’s done before the dark meat.
Transfer the chicken pieces to a platter as they are done. Spoon the plums and onions around the chicken. Drizzle a little of the pan drippings over the chicken and serve, garnished with the herbs and flaky salt.

Notes

I used all thighs because I like that best. The first time I made this, I used Italian plums cut into quarters, which felt too small and they almost completely disappeared — cut them in half instead.