Slow Cooker Ribollita (Italian vegetable soup).

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I grew up eating a very similar soup from my grandmother and aunt.  It was known as a peasant Italian soup.  Very inexpensive to make and uses up a lot of veggies that you have on hand.  Perfect!  My family is starting to show signs of colds and stuffy heads and I thought it was the perfect soup for dinner.  I load it up with a lot of veggies and garlic to help them feel better and clean out congestion, at least for a little while.  You can puree this soup, as I have or you can leave the veggies whole.  My purpose in pureeing is simply because my youngest daughter will sit and pick out the things she deems not edible.  Once blended, I can avert questions of ingredients and be sneaky.  You choose.  If I was making this for adults or even my older daughter, I would’ve left them intact because visually it’s more appetizing.

Ingredients:

1 large vidalia or yellow onion, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
3 ribs of celery, washed and chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium zucchini, chopped
4 cups of kale or spinach
2 sweet potatoes or white potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 -28 ounce can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1 cup of whole wheat bread, chopped into cubes (crust removed)

You can serve in bowls or bread bowls that have been hollowed out.  If hollowing out the bread, reserve the pieces you remove and serve alongside the soup for dipping.

Garnish options:  green onions, fresh basil, parsley or red pepper flakes

Directions:

Add all of your ingredients through red pepper flakes and cook on low (4-6 hours) in your slow cooker.  Give it a good stir and cover.  About 30 minutes prior to serving I add the bread cubes and taste to season with salt and pepper.  Give that a good stir. If you wish to puree the soup, using a hand immersion blender, puree the soup to your desired preference.  If using a blender, work in batches to puree.  Return back to the slow cooker and repeat until you have your desired texture.  If leaving intact, serve hot.

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— Knead to Cook

Comments

  1. Beth Widdowson says:

    I am part of the 40 day program at Evolution, so I was anxious to try this soup. It is wonderful. I made it for dinner last night, it was perfect on a cold, snowy night.

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