Banana Meringue Pudding--Yummy!!!

To check if your meringue is stiff, lift the beaters
out of the bowl and upend them: The peaks
should stick straight up.
Pudding:
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
Assembly:
1 11-ounce box vanilla wafer cookies
3 ripe bananas, thinly sliced
4 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
preparation
Pudding:
Lightly whisk eggs in a large bowl just to blend.
Whisk sugar and cornstarch in a medium
saucepan. Gradually whisk milk into sugar
mixture and heat over medium heat, whisking
often, until very warm to the touch. Gradually
whisk half of hot milk mixture into eggs, then
whisk egg mixture back into milk mixture in
saucepan.
Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and
whisk leaves a trail in pudding (it should be the
consistency of mayonnaise), about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat, add butter, vanilla, and salt
and whisk until butter is melted and mixture is
smooth.
Strain pudding through a fine-mesh sieve into
another large bowl. Cover pudding with plastic
wrap, pressing directly onto the surface. Chill until
cool, about 2 hours.
Assembly:
Spread one-third of pudding evenly in a 2-qt.
baking dish. Top with half of cookies and half of
bananas. Repeat layers one more time and top
with remaining third of pudding. Cover and chill at
least 4 hours.
Just before serving, heat broiler. Using an electric
mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites until
foamy. With motor running, gradually add sugar.
Increase speed to medium-high and beat until
stiff peaks form.
Spoon meringue over pudding and swirl
decoratively. Broil until meringue is dark brown in
spots, about 1 minute.
Do ahead: Pudding (without meringue) can be
assembled 2 days ahead. Keep chilled