For the gluten-free, a good dinner of pasta and bread

Pasta and bread – not really the first dinner menu that comes to mind for people who don’t eat gluten. But it was the husband’s meal last night, thanks to gluten-free versions of both.

The bread was a focaccia from Canyon Bakehouse, a popular brand of gluten-free breads usually found in the freezer cases at stores. The rosemary and thyme focaccia is made with brown rice and tapioca flours, extra virgin olive oil and other ingredients. It contains eggs, an allergen for some people.

The company is based in Colorado, and co-owned by Christi Skow, who was diagnosed in 2007 with celiac disease. The company opened in 2009. People with celiac disease must avoid gluten to stay healthy, but the gluten-free diet has become popular with people who have other sensitivities to the protein and among those who have decided they are healthier without wheat in their diets.

The pasta was a five-cheese ravioli from Pasta Prima, which also makes a butternut squash version. It’s the gluten in part that is repsonsible for the wonderful texture of the very best pastas, and unfortunately, no one has figured out how to make that happen without wheat flour.

But the Pasta Prima ravioli had good flavor and held together reasonably well in the cooking water. The pastas are found in the refrigerator case of supermarkets.

The pasta dough is made with corn and rice; the filling included Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, mozzarella and ricotta cheeses.

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