I found this recipe on Pinterest which is from Michael Ruhlman’s Translating the Chef Craft for Every Kitchen.  The Macaroni and Beef with Cheese recipe is on Ruhlman.com.

I did not read this entire recipe the first night I went to make it until it was about an hour before dinner.  Read through this recipe in advance!  It takes a bit of time to make so make sure you allow yourself all the time needed.

I did change the recipe a bit so here is my take on his recipe:

1. Sweat the onions in the oil with salt.
   
2. Add the beef to the onions and cook.
   
3. Add salt  oregano, black pepper and garlic.
   
4. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and cook for an hour.  (This is where I added the second can of tomatoes because if I had let the thick meat paste simmer for an hour it would have burned dry within 10-15 minutes.  So I added the tomatoes here.)
5. Cook the macaroni in boiling water till it’s half done.
   
6. Drain it and add it to the tomatoes.    Remove pasta from heat.  Add more salt and other seasonings as needed, and cover.
   
7. When it’s cooled, about 20 minutes to 30 minutes and the pasta has absorbed the tomato juices, transfer it to a large baking dish and cover it with foil.  It can sit out for several hours like this, be refrigerated for up to two days, or frozen a few weeks.
8. Bake it in a 400 degree oven till it’s piping hot (about 45 minutes if it’s cold to room temperature).  Just before you’re ready to eat, remove the foil, cover macaroni with the cheese and broil till it looks beautiful.

My family thought this recipe was okay.  Mine looked far more tomatoey than the picture on Michael Ruhlman’s site.  I will have to play with the cooking time and tomato ratio in the future.  I was expecting this to be more like Hamburger Helper Macaroni and Beef with Cheese and mine was more Macaroni and Meat Sauce with Cheese.