Mac and cheese that you’ll never grow out of

In 2003, food journalist Marian Burros' cookbook, “Cooking for Comfort” (Simon & Schuster), landed on my desk in the Orange County Register's newsroom. It was hard to meet my deadlines because it seemed that everyone who passed my desk examined the cover and stopped to chat about it.

The cover art, a generous bowl of macaroni and cheese, crunchy-crusted brown on top and oozing cheese below, made wellfed adults feel like hungry children.

More than two decades have passed, but I still have the book and I use

Burros' recipe for macaroni and cheese. Comfort food, more than ever, seems irresistible.

Macaroni and cheese

Yield: 4main-dish or 6 side-dish servings

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup diced yellow onion 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2cups low-fat milk; see cook’s notes

1tablespoon Dijon mustard 12ounces extra-sharp, aged white cheddar cheese, grated, divided use

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

8 ounces cavatappi or other corkscrew-style pasta, or macaroni

2tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Cook’s notes: I use 2 percent

DIRECTIONS

1. Place oven rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In large saucepan on low heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, about 1 minute; do not brown. Remove from heat and whisk in milk until thoroughly blended. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring, until mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in mustard, 10ounces grated cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and hot sauce.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente (offers slight resistance when bitten). Drain but do not rinse. Immediately stir into prepared cheese sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

4. Spoon into 9-by-13inch baking dish. Top with remaining 2 ounces grated cheddar cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

5. Bake about 30minutes or until mixture is hot, bubbling throughout and golden on top.

PHOTO BY NICK KOON This version of macaroni and cheese can use any of several types of pasta in a sauce made with white cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses. milk, which means the milk fat is 2% of the total weight of the milk. Whole milk or 1% milk works, too. The finished casserole (through Step 4) can be covered and refrigerated before baking. To cook, let it sit at room temperature 30 minutes, then bake, uncovered, as directed.