Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika & Bacon

Like a lot of the recipes in this cookbook, I think this soup needs some tweaking to get a good result.

I made a half-recipe and, since I was using some left-over crumbled bacon from another recipe, I sauteed my onions and garlic/ in butter instead of the bacon fat/butter combo the recipe called for. After these are sauteed, the canned tomatoes are added, with no additional liquid or seasoning, and they are simmered for 20 minutes. At this point the soup is cooled slightly and pureed, then the smoked paprika, S&P, and heavy cream (I used half and half) are added and the soup is reheated.

I found the soup to thick to be really appetizing so I added about 12 oz. of water. I also thought the late addition of the paprika made that flavor pretty overbearing. I doubt I would make this again, but if I did, I'd add the paprika to the sauteing onions and let it really meld with them and the tomatoes over the longer cooking time.