Instructions: No matter what you do to macaroni and cheese, its always pretty darn good.

It can be the plainest dish imaginable, or dolled up with lobster meat and truffle oil, but the slippery noodles and creamy base are always a pleasurable meal.

At a time when cozy, filling food is at the top of everyones list of requests, macaroni and cheese - as a side dish or a meal - warms the body and soul better than the wooliest sweater.

But few people are content to stick to what Mom used to make. Many cooks add their own touches, with interesting cheeses, maybe some vegetables or meat. It seems everyone is giving macaroni n cheese a makeover.

The great variety of American and imported artisan cheeses make the opportunities even richer, allowing cooks to layer flavors using everything from sharp Cheddars to mellow goat cheeses.

"I find that unless one uses cheese with strong character, the bechamel

(white sauce) gives the dish a blandness that is all too common in macaroni and cheese," said chef David Shea.

If the potential of this classic hasnt yet been fully explored, along comes the recent release of the cookbook, "Macaroni & Cheese: 52 Recipes from Simple to Sublime," by Joan Schwartz.

The recipes range from a three-cheese macaroni made with Wisconsin Asiago and a Greek-style dish with feta cheese and spinach to a New England macaroni and cheese with oysters and pork sausage and a version flavored with salsa from famed chef Rick Bayless.

"It is such a forgiving dish to prepare," Schwartz said. "I wanted to give people a starting point and help them think outside the box," she said, referring to Americas best-known macaroni and cheese, the one from Kraft.

"It smells good, it looks good," Schwartz said. It takes you back to a time when you were taken care of and nourished. "

Get that happy feeling back by making one of the recipes here, or challenge yourself by dressing up a family favorite. No one will leave the table dissatisfied. Unless, of course, you didnt make enough for leftovers.

Using your noodle (and other stuff)

Classic macaroni and cheese - at least the cafeteria kind - calls for elbow pasta, but with so many other shapes available you might as well experiment.

What you are looking for is something twisty, curvy or ridged that will help the sauce grip the noodles. Spirals such as rotini or fusilli are nice, as are bowtie shapes called farfalle.

Quill-shaped penne, particularly with ridged sides, lets the sauce get into the center, as do other hollow pastas. Shell shapes are another good idea. Avoid really tiny pastas, which tend to get lost in the sauce.

For the creamy macaroni and cheese base, feel free to build on a basic white sauce, or bechamel. Make it by cooking 2 tablespoons each of butter and flour over low heat for about 3 minutes, then stir in 1 cup milk, cooking until it thickens. Season to taste with salt, black or ground red pepper, nutmeg, or whatever suits.

Add the cheese of your choice in batches, stirring until well blended. Dont let the sauce get too hot or the cheese may clump.

Once the pasta and sauce are assembled, you cant call it a casserole without some sort of topping. Dried bread crumbs will do, but the commercial kind are often too finely ground. Better bets are fresh bread crumbs that have been toasted in the oven or in a pan with a little butter.

Another good choice is panko. These very dry, coarse Japanese bread crumbs stand up beautifully to moisture and deliver real crunch. Look for panko in Asian food markets and natural foods stores.

Finally, some people wouldnt dream of topping macaroni and cheese with anything other than cracker crumbs, the more buttery, the better. Its your choice. Just remember that this is fun food, so feel free to play around while cooking.

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