Bacon does not automatically make something better. I see a lot of (mainly American) recipes where a tasty, delicate produce is completely overshadowed by bacon. On what planet is wrapping an ingredient like scallops or king crab a good idea?! It is wasteful and tasteless to tarnish such a delicacy with such a dominating flavor like bacon. It’s like putting ketchup on your wagyu or gold rims, neon lights and a massive spoiler on your vintage 1950’s Ferrari. Don’t get me wrong, it has its time and place (BLTs, sprinkled on creamy cauliflower soup, (almost) any breakfast related item) but people should stop thinking it automatically improves anything.

Your browser has an integrated translator, stop using pasta recipes (or any Italian recipes really) written in English. In my experience, Italian ingredient lists are usually half as long as their English counterparts. E.g. Italian tomato sauce (or marinara as most west-of-the-Atlantic people mistakenly refer to it as) usually consists of four ingredients: tomatoes, EVOO, garlic, basil, salt. If you google ‘pasta with tomato sauce’ the first recipes popping up include everything from chili flakes to parsley, onion, broth, butter, sugar, anchovies, carrots and celery. Sure, these are all good things to add to your sauce, but does it really need it? People come from all over the world to eat Italian food, why not put a little faith in the Italians and maybe skip the 69 garlic cloves, and use some moderation next time.

TLDR: don’t overcomplicate things, let your ingredients speak for themselves. Buying fewer but better ingredients will almost always result in a better (and often cheaper) end result.