The Old-School, Effortless New England Soup I Whip Up On Cool Nights

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Though I currently live in Florida, I'm a fourth-generation Massachusettsian on my mother's side, and the cuisine of the South Coast is in my blood. When I trek up North to visit my family, I indulge in many a Fall River chow mein sandwich and eat my weight in authentic Portuguese bacalhau, because these foods are near-impossible to recreate in Tampa Bay. On the rare cold night in Florida, however, I indulge in a cozy, easy-peasy soup that was taught to me by my grandpa's girlfriend, Terry. It's called Venus de Milo soup, and it's possibly the easiest throw-together meal you can serve your loved ones, no esoteric Yankee ingredients required.

Canned soup is salty and not always delicious, but Venus de Milo soup is barely more work than heating up some Campbell's. The hardest part is browning a pound of ground beef and diced onion. After that, stir in a can of mixed vegetables, a can of tomato sauce, and a can of crushed tomatoes — all these should be 16 ounces each — in a Dutch oven. Throw in a packet of French onion soup mix and your chosen seasonings. Terry likes to use salt, pepper, and garlic powder, but I always add a splash of Worcestershire. Add 10 cups of water and boil, then toss in a cup of orzo or macaroni and simmer for about half an hour. This big pot of soup is ultra forgiving, very customizable, and, despite using all canned products, tastes like a hug in a bowl.

Terry's bespoke recipe for Venus de Milo soup is customized from a local cookbook, but variations exist all over the internet. Google confirms what Terry told me herself, which is that the soup is named for a restaurant and banquet hall in Swansea, Massachusetts named (surprise!) the Venus de Milo. This spot has been around since the 1960s and is famous enough to have hosted celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Ted Kennedy. It's known that LifeSavers were Sinatra's favorite candy, but I wonder if he ever indulged in a bowl of the Venus de Milo signature soup! Today, the menu at the restaurant still lists a "Venus de Milo minestrone soup," which is a catering option for weddings, milestone birthdays, and other parties. It can also be ordered via takeout and heated up at home.

As of the time of this writing, my grandpa, who lives 20 minutes from Swansea, is 94 years old, and Terry is 87. I'm all too well aware that, someday, memories will be all that I have left of these two, and one of my last links with my Massachusetts home will be gone. Not only is Venus de Milo soup objectively easy and delicious — both of which are important to me, considering I have three teenagers and a busy life — but, every autumn or winter night I make it, the scent and flavor transport me effortlessly over a thousand miles to the kitchen where I learned to cook it.