Arrosticini are made with mutton seasoned with rosemary, lemon and olive oil and are part of typical Abruzzo cuisine. I prefer to make them with lamb which has a finer taste in my opinion. They are traditionally prepared on charcoal in a kind of elongated rectangular brazier called rostelliera, but can obviously be grilled on a good old BBQ or in the oven.
Here I used slices of lamb legs, it's a leaner meat than suggested for the traditional recipe, but if you brush it with a little olive oil during cooking, it still keeps the meat soft and moist. If it is available at your grocery store, it is the shoulder of lamb which is best, because it is fattier and offers an optimal result, certainly you will easily find it at the butcher's or in a halal grocery store, because this piece is used in several recipes from North Africa and the Middle East.
Here I chose slices of lamb because they were at a good price, but it's better to have a fattier meat like shoulder of lamb.
Cut the lamb into cubes of about 1 centimeter, place in a mixing bowl
Chop the rosemary and add to the bowl with the olive oil
Squeeze the juice from a quarter of a lemon.
Mount the cubes on wooden skewers and place on the preheated BBQ grill. Grill 10 to 15 minutes, turning the skewers from time to time.
The arrosticini are usually served as is with bread or potatoes, but personally, I like to add parmesan and grated pecorino on the skewers at the end of cooking, it reminds me of the Messinaise braciole. Some add a bit of semi-sweet pepper, such as Gorria or Espelette.
Serve simply with bread, a green salad or with your favorite pasta. I chose garlic and oil penne with a salad of tomato, onion and cucumber with a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, basil, Pastene wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
Ingredients
Directions
Here I chose slices of lamb because they were at a good price, but it's better to have a fattier meat like shoulder of lamb.
Cut the lamb into cubes of about 1 centimeter, place in a mixing bowl
Chop the rosemary and add to the bowl with the olive oil
Squeeze the juice from a quarter of a lemon.
Mount the cubes on wooden skewers and place on the preheated BBQ grill. Grill 10 to 15 minutes, turning the skewers from time to time.
The arrosticini are usually served as is with bread or potatoes, but personally, I like to add parmesan and grated pecorino on the skewers at the end of cooking, it reminds me of the Messinaise braciole. Some add a bit of semi-sweet pepper, such as Gorria or Espelette.
Serve simply with bread, a green salad or with your favorite pasta. I chose garlic and oil penne with a salad of tomato, onion and cucumber with a simple vinaigrette of olive oil, basil, Pastene wine vinegar, salt and pepper.