Here's Gino's amazing soup. Apologies for the fact that it's not exactly a pure tomato soup, but it's so good...

For four people, you need half a pound of pancetta (not smoked, and it can be little cubes or, as I prefer, snipped-up thin slices), a pound and a half of finely-sliced onions (he sez white, but I use banana shallots), peeled weight, two and a half pints of chicken stock (feel free to use organic stock cubes), and a 400g can of good-quality tomatoes (or use your own) and a big glug of extra virgin olive oil.

Gently fry the onions and bacon in the oil for a good fifteen minutes until all is soft and squishy. Throw in the tomatoes and stock. Season, bearing in mind the saltiness of the pancetta. Simmer for a good half-hour. At the end, check the seasoning again.

Serve this with some parmesan shavings on top together with a few torn basil leaves. Keep the EV olive oil bottle to hand. Given a huge hunk of crusty bread with abundant butter and you have a meal, not just a starter. If there's a better soup, I've yet to meet it.