In a large soup pot, cook bacon to render all fat. Once cooked, remove bacon from pot and set aside.
Add butter, carrot, onion, garlic, tomato paste, parsley, thyme, basil, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and flour to pot. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add chicken stock, while stirring mixture and scrapping up any bits along the bottom of the pot.
Add diced tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes.
Remove soup from burner and using an immersion hand blender or blender, blend the the soup until smooth.
If using a blender, be sure to be very careful to avoid hot soup going everywhere. When blending the soup will expand, therefore you will want to remove the center cap from the lid, only fill the blender half way, and hold a folded hand towel over the opening to catch any flying soup. You may need to work in batches. Once all soup is blended return the soup back to the pot. I love my immersion hand blender and use it all the time. If you don't have one, I highly recommend them!
Stir in the whipping cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.