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This potato is a fine variety of tubers (Solanum tuberosum) grown in the province of Rieti. Until the 1930s, another type of potato was produced here, namely the “Tonda di Berlino”, which was eventually discontinued. Spaniards imported it around 1570.

Today, the Leonessa variety is highly appreciated as the perfect ingredient, and also because it doesn’t absorb too much water when cooking. A local festival celebrates it every year, on the second Sunday of October.

The territory of Leonessa, where cultivation used to be more intense, is now sown in May and harvested in late September, or early October. With its typical sub-spherical shape, this type of potato comes in several varieties: the most appreciated being “Desiré”, with red skin and yellow texture, “Agria”, with white skin and yellow texture, and “Marfona”, with smooth, white skin and yellow texture.

For years, this product has been listed in the National List of Traditional Agri-Food Products.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)