Chop all the vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, beets, and parsnip) so they are roughly the same size. They don’t have to be perfect.
Add olive oil to a large oven-safe pot like a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and cook until they are softened, 5-6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Add garlic and tomato paste to the vegetables and cook for 30 seconds, stirring the paste into the veggies. Then add diced tomatoes and vegetable stock. Bring stew to a simmer and turn heat down to low.
Add chopped kale, bread, drained beans, Parm rind, and bay leaf. Stir together, turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer stew for 20 minutes.
Remove bay leaf and rind and season stew to your liking with salt and pepper.
For bread toppers:
Preheat broiler in oven. Slice bread into 1/4-inch slices. Top each piece with a layer of grated parmesan cheese. Nestle the cheese bread pieces in the stew and place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until bread is crispy and cheese is melted.
Serve stew in big bowls with a cheese bread topper in each bowl.
(NOTE: If your sturdy pot isn’t broiler safe, you can make cheese toppers on a baking sheet and then just serve them in the stew.)