Tomato Bisque/Pasta Sauce

• 3 cups carrot juice
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped or 1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes, no-salt-added or low sodium (San Marzano variety is best, lower acid and sweeter)
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman's MatoZest or other no salt seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1/2 cup raw cashews or 1/4 cup raw cashew butter
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 5 ounces organic baby spinach 

In a large saucepan, add all ingredients except the cashews, basil and spinach. Simmer for 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf.
Remove 2 cups of the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside. Puree the remaining soup with the cashews in a food processor or high powered blender until smooth. Return the pureed soup along with the reserved vegetables to the pot. Stir in the basil and spinach and heat until spinach is wilted.
 
From Dr. Fuhrman's website

Alterations: This is a good soup, but Tanner and I found it tastes a little like eating tomato sauce. So we put it on whole wheat or rice noodles and it tastes great! We substituted Mrs. Dash's Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning for the MatoZest and added walnuts instead of cashews because we didn't have any. We also added mushrooms after it had been blended and let them cook another ten minutes.