Step 1

Thaw, clean, and rinse shrimp and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper, squeeze some lemon juice over, and put in the fridge.

Step 2

Cook bacon your favorite way (mine is baked) and chop

Step 3

Cook pasta in salted water, set some pasta water aside, rinse pasta under cold water

Step 4

Heat a tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and add shrimp and garlic. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes, but make sure garlic doesn’t brown and turn bitter and inedible. Lower heat as necessary. Remove shrimp and garlic, but leave all the bits and juices.

Step 5

Add another tablespoon olive oil. Use a wooden spoon to scrape everything loose from the bottom of the pan.

Step 6

Add shallots and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper (just a pinch each), and stir for two minutes.

Step 7

Add heavy cream and hot chili pepper flakes, and stir for another three minutes. Adjust heat so that heavy cream is bubbling but not boiling.

Step 8

Add cooked pasta back to the pan; let it absorb the cream and reheat for a minute.

Step 9

Toss shrimp and garlic back in the pan, and add parsley, sage and bacon.

Step 10

Add grated cheeses and lazily stir all ingredients for about 2 minutes. As the cheese melts, it emulsifies the liquid to form a smooth and rich coating on the pasta. If it’s too thick, add some of the pasta water you set aside earlier.

Step 11

Serve and garnish with some more parsley and maybe even some more grated Parmigiano Reggiano