The braised chicken thighs with fennel pasta recipe is, as Rea described, a one-pan, quick and easy dinner that takes a little less than an hour. It’s a personal recipe for Rea, too, as he said that he first started making a version of this dish for himself about a decade ago. He also noted that this is a very forgiving recipe, one that won’t completely fall apart if you mess up here or there.
If you truly don’t know your sauté pan from your saucepan, you’ll have to outfit your kitchen before you begin to cook anything. Rea had a few recommendations on that front as well. The top three tools he advises for a beginner home cook? A stainless steel sauté pan, good chef’s knife, and a large, heavy cutting board. If you have a little more room in your budget, he also underlined the usefulness of a non-stick pan for things like scrambled eggs and quesadillas and, if you want to try your hand at any of his bread recipes, he recommends a stand mixer.
“Basics with Babish” by Andrew Rea is out now wherever books are sold.