Grilled Lamb Skewers

Why This Recipe Works

The romantic roots of arrosticini are steeped in the long shepherding tradition of the region; lore has it that the mountain shepherds of Abruzzo would roast pieces of mutton over the fire as a quick and easy meal while they traveled. Today, arrosticini is a popular street food—the meat is cut into tiny precision cubes by machine, cooked over a specialized grill, and eaten directly off the skewer—though it's also prepared by home cooks. Arrosticini can be made with lamb or mutton, but either way its exterior should be well browned, with the meat basted in its own flavorful fat and cooked until tender. This is generally achieved by cutting the meat very small (we found recipes calling for ⅓-inch cubes) and cooking quickly over a very hot fire. We were able to create a blazing-hot flame on a charcoal grill using our half-grill method: spreading a full chimney of coals over just half the grate to concentrate the heat. With a grill this hot, we found we could cut the meat a bit bigger, into ½-inch pieces, and cook it just as quickly, making prepping meat and threading the skewers less of a chore. Packing the lamb tightly helped keep it from overcooking, and after a quick stint on the grill it was so flavorful that all it required was a dash of salt and pepper for seasoning.