Moms-Sallie’s Venus de Milo Soup

Sallie’s Venus de Milo Soup

This is a version of Venus de Milo soup as my Husband Jonathan best remembers his Mom making it. It’s like the minestrone soup that the Venus de Milo restaurant in Swansea, MA serves.

His Mom made this multiple times a year, but not positive where she got the recipe and don’t know if it is precisely the same as the Venus’s. Boy, it sure tastes like it though. The Venus won’t publish any of its homegrown recipes, therefore there are quite a few versions out there, however this is basically how he remembers his Mom making it. The recipe is from my memory of when she made it, as, unfortunately, we can’t find her recipe. Instead of Veg-All vegetables in cans, some recipes call for frozen mixed vegetables but, He distinctly remembers that his mother always used the cans. If you’d rather use frozen instead then add it with the water as they’ll obviously need additional time to cook. You’ll see that this recipe says to cook the pasta in the soup because his Mom always did, but you can cook the pasta separately instead and then add it to the soup, which eliminates the last 20 – 30 minutes of cooking if you are in a rush. If you freeze the soup, and it does freeze quite well, the only thing that you don’t want to do is add the pasta. Instead freeze it without the pasta and add it when you heat it up. Pasta can get mushy when frozen in soup and who wants mushy pasta. This soup is just great in the fall and winter. Perfect for any snowy day when you want to curl up with a good book and forget about going outside. It’s very delicious and easy to make. Best of all, it tastes even better the second day. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3+ quarts water (or stock)

• 2 undrained cans of Veg-All

• ½ tsp oregano

• 1 cup diced celery

• 1 diced small onion

• 1½ – 2 lbs hamburger (use ground turkey for a healthier version)

• 1 package Lipton onion soup mix

• 1 large undrained can of crushed or diced tomatoes,

• 1 cup orzo

Directions:

Sauté the hamburger and onion in a 6 or 8 quart saucepan and sweat the celery near the end. Drain off all of the fat. Add remaining the ingredients, except for the canned veggies and the orzo. Cook for 10 – 15 minutes. Now add the Veg-All and cook another 10 – 15 minutes. Then add the orzo and cook for 10 – 20 minutes as directed on package. Top each bowl with grated cheese when serving, if desired.