this is gorgeous, it's the closest I have come to making a soup which is like a 'cream of ' you can use tinned tomatoes, it works just as well but you will notice the difference in taste

900g/ 2lb ripe tomatoes

300ml/ 2tbsp olive oil

275g/ 10oz onions roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves crushed

900ml/ one and a half pints vegetable stock

2tbsp tomato puree , sun dried is best

2tsp paprika

1tbsp corn flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel tomatoes, cook onions and garlic in oil until soft ( about 3 minutes)

Add all ingredients except the corn flour, bring to the boil and simmer for about ten minutes

Mix the corn flour to a paste with 2tbsp cold water add to pan, cook for a further five minutes , leave to cool then blend and sieve to remove tomato seeds

warm through and serve.