Guide
What Is Arrosticini?
Arrosticini (sometimes called spiedini) are small skewers of mutton, cut into bite-sized cubes and grilled over a narrow channel of glowing charcoal or lump wood. They come from the Abruzzo region in central Italy, where shepherds first cooked them this way, and they've been made the same way for centuries: no marinade, no sauce, just meat, fire, and salt.
Is arrosticini made from lamb or mutton?
Traditionally, mutton — aged sheep meat with a deeper, richer flavour than lamb. Some modern versions substitute lamb, which is milder and easier to source outside Italy. Arrosticrats uses traditional mutton, hand-prepared in the UK using the original Abruzzese method.
What is a fornacella?
A fornacella is the traditional Abruzzese grill built specifically for arrosticini: a long, narrow metal trough that holds a thin line of charcoal under the skewers. The narrow channel is the whole point — it puts intense, direct heat under the meat without a grill grate getting in the way, which is exactly the geometry a standard barbecue can't replicate. It's also where the Arrosticrats grill gets its name.
How do you cook arrosticini?
Lay the skewers across the fornacella's channel, directly over hot lump wood or charcoal, and turn them every couple of minutes. There's no grill grate and no marinade — just heat and salt. Most batches take around 8 to 10 minutes. The fat renders down into the coals as they cook, which is part of the flavour.
Arrosticini vs kebab — what's the difference?
Both are meat on skewers, but the similarity mostly ends there. Arrosticini is specifically mutton, cut small, cooked unseasoned over a purpose-built narrow grill, and rooted in one specific region of Italy. Kebab covers a much broader family of skewered, often marinated meats with origins across the Mediterranean and Middle East. If arrosticini has a closer cousin, it's more akin to a very specific, single-region barbecue tradition than the broader kebab category.
Where can I buy arrosticini in the UK?
Arrosticrats sells both the traditional mutton skewers and the purpose-built grill needed to cook them properly.