Vegetarian Kale Chorizo Frittatta

Vegetarian Kale Chorizo Frittata


Today's recipe is a result of a "Kale Challenge" by my husband.  He bought a bunch of kale from the supermarket and challenged me to make something delicious with it.  Well, I looked around the house and saw that I had a package of soy chorizo, which I had been itching to try since my friend, Tanya, raved about soy chorizo scrambles.  Given my time frame, need to be able to have free hands while chasing a 2 year old, this is what I came up with.   I also decided to bake it, and not cook it in the pan, as this was far easier for my lifestyle.




I should note that this is not vegan, as obviously it has eggs.  However, it is dairy free and meat free.  If you do eat dairy, I *highly* suggest using real cheese (maybe a 1/2 cup of cheddar, parmesan, or whatever you fancy.  Maybe even a wee bit of milk in the egg when you whisk it to make it fluffy).  I used dairy free vegan cheese.  It was alright, but I think next time I will just leave it off.  It didn't add anything.

If you are not vegetarian, then I also suggest using regular chorizo.  I think the texture would be awesome.  Though, to be fair, the soy chorizo has a great flavor.  It is a bit weird to cook, but the tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

1 package soy chorizo
1 bunch of kale (about 2 1/2 cups when steamed/wilted)
2 shallots, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cheese (dairy free or not..)
8 eggs, whisked
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons of fresh diced herbs (I used sage, lemon thyme and parsley)

Note:

I cooked the soy chorizo, wilted/steamed the kale and did all the chopping ahead of time and placed everything in the fridge.  I think you could easily do this the night before or several hours, etc. before dinner, if you are like me and don't want to do it all at once with the kiddo running around or if you have other things to cook.  Then about 40 min. before dinner, I put it all together.

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1) using a vegetable steamer, steam all of your kale.  Be sure to remove the leaves from the stalk, as the stalk is very hard and not that great to eat.  I just tore them off, placed them in a steaming basket and steamed them for about 10 min or so until they were soft.   Remove and set aside.

2) In a nonstick skillet cook your soy chorizo on a very high heat (per directions).  It won't really crumble like normal sausage, but you can brown it to your desired liking.  Once that is done, set aside
.

3) In a small pan, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and sautee your shallots and garlic until fragrant, then add your herbs.  Sautee for a minute or so more, combining all well.

4) in a separate bowl, whisk together your eggs, (milk if you want it), cheese (dairy or non), salt and pepper.

5) Take a pie dish/plate (8.5-9" or so), and lightly coat it with the remaining olive oil.  I used my fingers to ensure it got everywhere and didn't pool.  Place your onion/garlic/herb mixture in the bottom.  Then place the cooked chorizo on top of it.  Next, layer the kale on top of that.  Press flat.  Pour the egg/cheese mixture over that and bake for 40 min. or until it looks done and is firm in the middle, brown on top.

Extra note:  I had a bit of rotelle pasta left over from another dish (the kind that looks like wheels).  I placed some of those on the bottom of my pie plate with the herb mixture to give the bottom some structure.  You could use any type of pasta if you wanted to do this too, just a little to give a layer.  Also, towards the end, I turned on the broiler and browned the frittata this way.