Vegetarian Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta

I love cooking food that I can make in huge quantities because it'll last for a couple of days.  This really helps me on work days when I prefer to pack lunch instead of eating out.  This  past weekend, I was in the mood to make some sort of pasta.  The last time I made pasta was when I made Filipino spaghetti (which I didn't blog about because I somewhat overcooked the noodles...I swear I will get it right the next time and blog about it) so I wanted to make something different this time.  I was originally going to make a tomato and basil pasta but I found a recipe for Italian sausage and tomato pasta and I just couldn't resist.

I love Tofurky's Italian sausage with sun dried tomato and basil, which I purchased at Micronesia Mall Pay-Less Supermarket, and I thought it would be perfect in this recipe.  It's super flavorful and I think, by far, the best vegetarian Italian sausage available on Guam.  The sausages are about the same size as hot dog franks, but I didn't ground it up like the original recipe called for.  Instead, I just sliced them up which was much easier to do.  Prepping the pasta sauce was relatively easy since I used a can of already diced tomatoes instead of dicing the tomatoes myself.  Efficiency is the name of the game!
The original recipe called for 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, but I went with 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano and 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil.  To be honest, I really don't know the difference between the two.  I did a little research and it looks as though the two are interchangeable.  I did read some blogs on this topic and some say that basil is their herb of choice while others are Team Oregano.  I'm totally neutral between the two and my tastebuds aren't refined enough to tell the difference so I just went with half and half.
The pasta turned out super delicious.  The Parmesan cheese really helped balance out the strong flavor of the sausage and it helped make the pasta sauce thicker.  It makes me pretty happy to know that I don't have to suffer from bland food just because I'm vegetarian.  I can't wait to make other types of pastas!  If I can replicate Capricciosa's pastas then I would be one super happy vegetarian.

Vegetarian Italian Sausage and Tomato Pasta
Serves 4-6
8 ounces pasta (any type of your choice.  I used fettuccine.)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 ounces vegetarian Italian sausage, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt to taste
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Dice the onion, mince the garlic and set them aside.  Slice the Italian sausages.  Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat.  Add the sausage, stirring as it cooks.  Add the onions and garlic.  Stir well, cover and cook for 5-6 minutes or until the onion has softened and the sausage is completely cooked through.  Add the tomatoes with their juice, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes and salt to taste.  Cover and cook an additional 10-15 minutes or until the tomatoes are nicely softened and beginning to break down.  Add the Parmesan cheese and stir well to combine.  Add the pasta to the pot with the sauce.  Stir everything together until the pasta is well combined.  Serve with additional red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese, if desired.