spicy southwestern quiche with (vegetarian) sausage and spinach

i made this quiche to bring over to patrick's parent's house for dinner. i've noticed both making this recipe and another recipe of mini-quiches with vegetarian sausage that even picky meat-lovers will come back for seconds!

i use field roast brand vegetarian sausage - it's made with wheat gluten so it has a fantastic consistency and it crumbles well to use as a substitute for chorizo or sausage. i've found that other brands aren't flavored as well and end up tasting fairly rubbery and bland, even when they're doused in spices. for this recipe i used the mexican chipotle, but i've tried and liked all of their veggie sausage.

for this recipe you need:
a 9" pie crust, either frozen or made from scratch
2 field roast mexican chipotle vegetarian sausages, crumbled
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups fresh spinach
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. dried or fresh sliced chili pepper

preheat oven to 350º. fill the bottom of the pie crust with the crumbled sausage. in a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the cream and cheese. mix in the salt and pepper. heat a skillet with oil and sauté the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and the 1 tbsp. chili peppers, then add to mixing bowl. rinse the spinach and sauté in a pan with a very small amount of oil, and add them to the mixing bowl as well.

once all of the ingredients are well mixed together, pour the egg mixture over the sausage crumbles and sprinkle the remaining chili pepper over the center. bake the quiche for 30-45 minutes until the center is firm.