Inspired by the fresh pasta thread, I am tired of tomato spaghetti sauce. What can I put on my noodles instead?
Thanks.
Sauté some minced garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and maybe some onion in very good olive oil. Add some cracked pepper and a little salt. Toss the pasta in it.
Cook up a little bit of onion and mushrooms, add a bit of sour cream and paprika. Serve over the noodles. You can also add chicken or beef to it.
I did this nearly-instant pasta sauce for lunch and it was terrific. Jarred pesto, a little heavy creamed and chopped marinated artichoke hearts. It was really good stuff. Took about as long to make as toast, too.
Quick and easy: Open a can of chili (pref., no beans), pour it into/onto spaghetti noodles, and top with shredded Cheddar.
These are great ideas!
Olive oil, garlic, and grated parmesan cheese is good too.
(Re: my last. Do heat the chili before pouring it on the pasta. 
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I love this spinach/goat cheese sauce from Giada. Even as a garlic person, this is very sharp with the garlic flavor. I would cut back or saute it. Creamy and rich without being over-the-top in calories.
alfredo sauce - I use thisrecipe. There’s been a bunch of discussion of alfredo over the years on these boards, too - a search will find those out. It’s expensive calorically, but so incredibly awesome.
Tear up some fresh basil leaves, by hand. Toss in some halved cherry tomatoes, maybe some stoned olives, maybe some anchovies, maybe some roasted garlic. Drizzle with oil & season.
Or
Cube some chicken breast, brown in olive oil and butter (must be both), with chopped spring onion and some sliced bell pepper. Season while cooking, very heavy on the black pepper. When meat is browned, remove and deglace with a shot of sherry or vermouth and add say a cup of cream to pan, and a tablespoon or so of Dijon or Hot English mustard. Simmer until it thickens (may need a little flour or other starch, or a knob of butter) then toss meat/onion/pepper back in to heat through.
Heat up some chicken broth, melt some peanut butter into it, hit it with a little sesame oil and Sriracha. Top with shredded chicken, chopped peanuts and sliced green onions.
For fresh noodles? Butter and sage, with a bit of grated parmesan. That’s perfect.
This is low-rent, but I still get a craving for it with leftover cooked elbow noodles: heat and toss with butter, grated parmesan, garlic powder, and a dash of ketchup. I ‘invented’ this as a child, ate it as a poor student, and the day after a hard night of drinking (though never as a poor, hungover child).
A better one is hot pasta tossed with diced tomatoes and mozzarella, black olives, and Italian dressing. Similar to above suggestions, but it’s really a good pasta dish.
Oh, one more that I thought of. This isn’t really a “sauce” per se, but a treatment for noodles. It’s a Hungarian dish called turós tészta, or “cheesy noodles.” For a pound of noodles, fry yourself up like half a pound of bacon. Take about a half pound of any kind of small-curd fresh cheese you can find (farmer’s cheese, bryndza, ricotta, small curd cottage cheese, etc.). Dump it into the noodles, along with the fried bacon and about 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Mix it all up, and serve topped with a generous serving of sour cream.
Carbonara.
Beat eggs with parmesan, salt and pepper.
Boil the noodles, pour out the water, immediately toss in chopped Italian ham and the egg mixture while the noodles are still hot; stir until the eggs have thickened. (Some areas of Italy use cream too but that should be forbidden.) Easy and delicious.
Two quibbles: One more ingredient, at least traditionally: guanciale (cured, unsmoked pork jowl.) You can also also use pancetta if you can’t find guanciale (which, while it’s becoming somewhat more available, still is usually difficult to find.) Bacon is also a common substitute (at least in America), but I find that the smokiness of the bacon changes the character of the dish and overpowers the flavors. If you can find a local, cured, but unsmoked bacon, that should work okay. Fry the guanciale or pancetta in a bit of fat, toss the cooked spaghetti into it, then proceed as according to your recipe.
Also, pecorino romano is the traditional cheese in this dish, but parmesan is common these days. I associate this dish with pecorino, though.
Agreed on the cream, or non-addition of it. I don’t know that to be a regional Italian thing (although it’s possible), but more of a foreign addition.
Saute some shrimp in butter and add to the mix with some thyme and you’ve got a great dish.
Don’t over think this - add a can of cream of mushroom soup, grate some cheese, enjoy:)
Add in a can of corn, and this is a favorite “comfort food” at our house.