This past winter, I had a wonderful smoky red bean puree at a restaurant in Brooklyn called Roman's. I asked our server about the ingredients and preparation, but the only information I got was that the smoky flavor came from their wood-burning oven. Knowing that was not a possibility for me at home, I decided to use smoky paprika, hoping it would give that complex, mysterious flavor one doesn't expect from a simple bean puree. I chose the other ingredients based on my memory of the dish, so this may not in fact be like the Roman's recipe at all. Still, we love it and it reminds us of our wonderful dinner.

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