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1
Build a wood-charcoal fire and bring it to maximum heat. The coals must be fully live — glowing red, covered with white ash, producing no flames. Hold a hand 10 cm above the grate: the heat should be uncomfortable within two seconds. This is the only fuel for this dish; gas provides heat but not the aromatic char that is a flavour element of scottadito.
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2
Place the abbacchio cutlets on a board. Pound each lightly with a meat bat to ensure the flesh is even across the bone. Salt both sides immediately before grilling — no earlier, or moisture is drawn from the meat.
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3
Lay the cutlets directly on the grate over the live coals. Grill for 2.5 minutes per side — no more. This is where the dish lives or dies: the exterior must char to a dark, crackling crust while the interior of the abbacchio's white-pink meat remains fully pink. Any further cooking past the 5-minute total renders milk-fed lamb dry and disappoints; grey-through is incorrect. If rosemary sprigs are used, throw them onto the coals in the final minute so the smoke perfumes the meat.
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4
Transfer the cutlets to plates without delay. Drizzle the charred surface with extra-virgin olive oil and serve immediately with lemon wedges. The cutlets are eaten at once, held by the bone — they must be hot enough to risk burning the fingers; scottadito served cool is not the same dish.