Slow Cooker Ribollita With Smoked Mozzarella Toasts

By Sarah DiGregorio

Updated February 7, 2023

  • Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
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Total Time
6½ hours on high (or 12½ hours on low)
Rating
4(553)
Comments
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This classic Italian vegetable soup is a wonderful way to use up stale bread and leftover vegetables — and can be prepared in a pot, in a pressure cooker, or in a slow cooker. With the exception of sliced sandwich bread (which is too flimsy), any crusty bread will work here: sourdough, ciabatta, multigrain and so on. (Since you’re toasting it, it’s not necessary for the bread to be stale, but it certainly can be.) The olive-oil-rich sautéed vegetables melt into the soup as it simmers, but you can throw in other leftover cooked vegetables at the end, with the greens.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

FOR THE SOUP

  • ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

  • 1 large yellow or red onion, finely chopped

  • Kosher salt and black pepper

  • 1 large leek, trimmed, white and light green parts sliced

  • 3 celery stalks, finely chopped

  • 1 small fennel bulb, bulb cored and finely chopped, fronds reserved

  • 14 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped

  • 2 dried bay leaves

  • 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes, plus more for serving

  • 1 cup dry white wine

  • 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock

  • 1 ½ cups dried white beans, such as cannellini or great Northern (no need to soak)

  • 1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

  • 3 fresh thyme sprigs or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

  • 1 fresh rosemary sprig or ½ teaspoon dried rosemary

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)

  • 1 bunch kale, chard or collards (about 12 ounces), stemmed and finely chopped, or 1 (10-ounce) bag frozen chopped spinach or kale

  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, preferably aged

FOR THE TOASTS

  • 8 thick slices crusty bread

  • 1 garlic clove, cut in half

  • Olive oil

  • 8 ounces smoked or regular mozzarella, cut into 8 (¼-inch-thick) slices

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 to 8 servings)

58 grams carbs; 27 milligrams cholesterol; 552 calories; 12 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 24 grams fat; 12 grams fiber; 1062 milligrams sodium; 25 grams protein; 10 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet over medium. Add the onion, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until limp and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the leek, celery and fennel, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Add the chopped garlic, bay leaves, red-pepper flakes and white wine; season generously with black pepper. Stir well and let the wine come to a simmer before turning off the heat.

  2. Step 2

    Scrape the mixture into a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker. Add the stock, beans, tomatoes, thyme, rosemary and lemon juice. Cook until the beans are tender and creamy, about 6 hours on high or 12 hours on low.

  3. Step 3

    Before serving, remove and discard the bay leaves and herb sprigs. Switch the slow cooker to high (if it’s not already), and stir in the greens and vinegar.

  4. Step 4

    Let the greens cook while you make the toasts: Turn on your broiler. Rub the bread slices with the halved garlic and drizzle them with olive oil. Position a rack 6 inches from the broiler, then toast sliced bread under the broiler until very light golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 slice of mozzarella to each toast and broil until softened and browned in spots. Taste the soup and season to taste with salt and pepper.

  5. Step 5

    Divide the soup among bowls and add a mozzarella toast to each bowl. Garnish with the reserved fennel fronds, and additional black pepper or red-pepper flakes, if desired.

Tip

  • Dried, soaked beans should reach a simmer and cook until tender to be safe to eat. If your slow cooker does not reach a simmer on the low setting, increase the heat level to high, and ensure the beans cook at a simmer for at least 15 minutes at some point in the cooking process.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
553 user ratings
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Comments

Chris Perrin

One should not cook dried beans in a liquid that is acidic ( e. g., containing tomatoes) as acid prevents the beans from softening.

Staci

How long did you cook for using the canned beans?

chris

I cook Rancho Gordo Cannellini beans regularly, not soaked, in a slow cooker on high for 4 hours and they are always very soft. Maybe all the additional ingredients changes the cooking time. Also, older beans require longer cooking times. When I've made Ribollita in the past I cook the beans in the slow cooker and the rest on stove top, add the bean liquid as stock to the vegetable mixture and add the cooked beans, half of them pureed.

knhVT

I’ve made this twice now, all in a Dutch oven on the stovetop. It is excellent and the dried beans don’t have to be a barrier if you’re around the day you’re making the soup. Bring them to a rolling boil with a pinch of baking soda, then shut off the heat and let the beans sit in the water for 2 hours. I then drain the beans and use fresh water to finish them - simmer them for a half hour to an hour - they’ll be very soft and ready to go in the soup!

Sadie

Definitely would not make this again… this soup lacks balance and ultimately there are much better soups out there

Mimi RunswithKitchenScissors

Tasted great, but I wish Ms. DiGregorio had, by now (5 years later), updated the recipe to incorporate the comments re: prep time and the effect that tomato acids have on delaying the beans' softening. Took an hour and half just to prep, which wouldn't have been a problem were it not that the beans were barely edible after cooking on high for 6 hours. Had to add another 2.5 hours for them to finally give. Total time incl. prep: 10 hours… (Note to self: always first read through the comments!)

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