If you think Shrimp Scampi is great, imagine it served on spaghetti carbonara instead of boring old spaghetti! This is the the perfect meld of two excellent dishes, resulting in shrimp on a rich, creamy spaghetti base. And the whole recipe still takes only half an hour.

For the scampi

• One pound large (or larger) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 lemon, juiced. Save the zest, too.
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 5 Tb butter
• ¼ cup chopped parsley

For the carbonara

• 2 strips bacon
• ½ to 1 lb vermicelli
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Start by frying the 2 strips of bacon from the carbonara recipe. Cook until dry, and drain on a paper towel. Chop the bacon up and reserve in a small dish. Pour the bacon drippings in the bowl as well.
2. Rinse out the pan, removing any excess “bacon tracks,” dry and add the olive oil.
3. Saute the shrimp 2-4 minutes, depending on size. They should be pink and firm, but don’t cook until they shrink. Set the shrimp aside.

4. Add the minced garlic and pepper flakes and a little more olive oil. Saute for a minute or so until fragrant.
5. Add the lemon juice and wine and cook down for a couple of minutes.
6. Stir in the butter, a Tb at a time until the sauce is smooth and uniform.
7. Cook the vermicelli in boiling water until just past al dente. For this recipe, we prefer starting with dried, rather than fresh, pasta, because it will hold more heat for the next step.

1. Drain the pasta and return to a bowl. Using two forks, mix in the eggs one at a time so they cook in the hot pasta.
2. Add the parmesan cheese and stir in so it begins to melt.
3. Mix in some or all of the bacon.
4. Reheat the shrimp in the sauce, briefly and pour both over the spaghetti.
5. Sprinkle parsley on top.

There! Done in half an hour or less, and creamily good. Serve ladling the shrimp, sauce and pasta onto each plate.

Buon appetito!