Abbacchio a scottadito
Roman grilled milk-fed lamb chops
In Rome, abbacchio is not a broad word for lamb. It means the exceptionally young, milk-fed animal whose pale, fine-grained meat has long belonged to Lazio's spring and holiday table. For scottadito, the prized cut is the rib chop: a small piece of meat with its own built-in handle and just enough fat to carry the fire.
Scottadito means “finger-burning.” The chops are eaten by the bone while they are still hot from the grill. Olive oil, lemon, rosemary and garlic give the meat a short aromatic nudge; a hard grill gives it its actual character.
Ingredients
For the chops
- 12(about 800 g / 1¾ lb)milk-fed lamb rib chops, cut about 1.5 cm (⅝ inch) thick (see note)
- 60 ml(¼ cup)extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 clovesgarlic, peeled and lightly crushed
- 1 small sprigfresh rosemary
- ½lemon, for its juice
- 6 g(about 1 tsp)fine sea salt
- ½ tspfreshly ground black pepper
Kitchen notes
- Milk-fed lamb rib chops
- Roman abbacchio is very young, milk-fed lamb from Lazio, legally defined for Abbacchio Romano IGP as 28–40 days old and no more than 8 kg (17.6 lb) carcass weight. Ask a specialist butcher for milk-fed lamb rib chops of comparable size; verify the animal rather than relying on the vague label ‘baby lamb.’ Larger, older supermarket lamb is not an equivalent here.
- Grill or griddle
- Charcoal gives the most direct version of cooking over glowing embers, but a well-heated cast-iron grill pan is a sound indoor method. Do not crowd either surface: crowded chops steam and lose the hot, browned edge that the name promises.
Method
Season the young lamb
- Put the chops in a nonreactive dish. Mix the olive oil, garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, salt and pepper, pour over the chops, and turn them until lightly coated. Cover and refrigerate for 30–60 minutes, turning once. This is a short marinade, not a cure: longer soaking makes the lemon more prominent than the lamb. Take the dish from the refrigerator 20 minutes before grilling.
Heat the grill hard
- Prepare a charcoal grill for a compact, very hot bed of embers, or heat a ridged cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat until thoroughly hot. Lift the chops from the marinade, letting excess oil drip back into the dish; remove the garlic and rosemary so they do not scorch. Oil and scrape the grate if needed. The grill should give a clear sizzle the moment a chop touches it, without sustained flames licking around the meat.
Grill and serve scottadito-hot
- Grill the chops in a single layer, turning once, until browned with a few dark grill marks, about 2 minutes per side for 1.5 cm (⅝-inch) chops. Adjust for the actual thickness and move the chops away from any flare-up. Check the thickest chop with an instant-read thermometer, avoiding the bone: lamb chops need to reach 145°F (63°C). Transfer to a warm platter and rest for 3 minutes, then serve at once, with the bones as handles.