Soy Chorizo and Goat Cheese Quiche

I think I once confessed my fascination with ingredients.  I think that so often the parts are more important than the sum of the parts when it comes to cooking in this kitchen.  Backwards I know, but each food store feels like a treasure hunt.

Still riding the Trader Joe's grocery high, I gave Soy Chorizo a chance.  Looks intriguing enough...

 

But pulled out of it's casing, it did not bode well. It kind of looks just like sausage yes?  Probably the entire point of the product--duh Mary.

In fact, brown it up, and it looks remarkably indistinguishable from sausage. This is probably great news if you eat soy "sausage" for personal reasons.  If however, you are put off by the very texture and meatiness of sausage, soy chorizo may not be the answer.  This seemed so truly meaty, I swear I saw a fully intact lymph node.  But I fully acknowledge that I have a lymph node paranoia.

 

Cheese however, is safe and absolutely divine.  Cotija is no exception.  Throw in Goat Cheese and fontina and how bad could this be?

Not bad at all.  In fact pretty great.  Bobby is a genius, and Throwdown is just spectacular TV, but that's a given.  There were a few bites where I had to mentally convince myself I wasn't eating real chorizo. That's probably a compliment to this product-kind of creepy to me.  But all in all, the flavors were spicy and the cheeses were tangy and gooey.  Then again, I'd probably say that Bobby pours cereal in such a culinary fascinating way, it could never be replicated.  Such is the life of a Food Network groupie.

Note:  The recipe on Food Network's site calls for making your own crust.  There are so many things I will do in the kitchen, making my own pie crust is never one of them.  I haven't made one from scratch since 1995 and I surely wasn't going to make one from scratch at 6am on a Sunday morning. Especially with Team Canine and Team Feline trying to decide if they could possibly like each other or eat each other right at my feet. So this crust is of course Pilsbury--pulled from the fridge, unrolled directly into the tart pan, docked and pre-baked with weights at 375 for 10 mins.

Soy Chorizo and Goat Cheese Quiche

Adapted from Throwdown with Bobby Flay

One pre-baked pie/tart crust--still slightly warm.
1/2 package soy chorizo, casing removed
1/4 cups grated fontina cheese
1/4 cup finely grated Cotija cheese
1/4 cup red onion finely sliced
5 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 ounces soft goat cheese, frozen for 10 minutes and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
couple of dashes of hot sauce because mo hotta is mo betta (optional)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Heat  a large saute pan over med high heat. Add the chorizo and cook until golden brown-about 3-5 mins. Let cool slightly.
3. Scatter the fontina, Cotija, chorizo and thyme over the warm tart shell. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the milk and hot sauce and whisk until smooth. Pour into the shell and evenly and distribute the goat cheese and sliced onions over the top.
4. Bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the center is almost set (still slightly jiggles) but the sides are set, about 25 to 35 minutes. Let sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges for serving.