How to prepare Abruzzo arrosticini

Arrosticini are a typical street food of Abruzzo. These mutton skewers are served in bunches and accompanied with toasted bread.

Arrosticini are a typical dish from Abruzzo . The shape resembles that of a skewer and they are prepared by cutting pieces of sheepmeat or mutton into chunks of about one centimetre. Inserted among the traditional Italian agro-food products by the Ministry of Agricultural Policies, they were born around the 30s of the last century from the need to consume the toughest sheep meat.

The stick of the skewers, in the local dialect is called li cippe or li cippitill and originally consisted of a bundle of dry grass that grew along the banks of the Pescara river. However, what makes the difference between one arrosticini and another is not just the meat. The grill for arrosticini allows these small skewers of mutton to be cooked evenly. Furthermore, the embers will give the dish its characteristic aroma.

When cooked, they are seasoned with plenty of salt and pepper and served in bunches wrapped in aluminum foil (a portion is usually made up of 20 arrosticini), making this dish one of the region's street foods par excellence. The only legal accompaniment is a slice of toasted bread , seasoned with extra virgin olive oil.

How to prepare arrosticini

1. First of all, get some sheep , mutton, sheep or mutton and cut it into one centimeter cubes without worrying about being too precise: this is the difference between an industrial arrosticini and a homemade one.
2. Then thread them onto the skewers, alternating bits of fatty meat with others of lean meat to form a row of about 20 cm .
3. Put the skewers in a bowl with some rosemary sprigs and a generous drizzle of oil.
4. Massage the meat with the oil and leave to marinate for about 30-40 minutes.
5. Now cook the arrosticini on the special grill for 10 minutes, turning them from time to time to obtain uniform cooking.
6. When cooked, season with plenty of salt and pepper and serve the arrosticini as desired with a slice of toasted bread on the same grill. We recommend: they must be eaten strictly with the hands , no knife and fork!

Do you love skewers? Try our vegetarian version !

storage

We recommend consuming the meat at the moment, at most you can store it in the fridge for half a day , but given the type of animal used it could become very dry and unappetizing. You can keep the unmarinated and cooked skewers in the freezer.

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