• In 4 T. butter, sauté the ground beef with onion, garlic, and parsley, crumbling beef with a fork until golden brown.
  
• Add cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, wine, and tomato sauce. Simmer 30 minutes and then turn off burner.
• While sauce simmers, cook macaroni according to package directions, then drain. Place macaroni in a large mixing bowl.
• Add to the macaroni 8 T. (a stick) of melted butter and mix. Then, add in beaten eggs and ½ c. or so of grated Romano. Mix well.
  
• Grease a 9 x 13 x 2 baking pan and cover the bottom with ½ of the macaroni and then ½ of the meat sauce. Sprinkle with ¼ c. Romano cheese.
  
• Note: The traditional way is to line up the macaroni in parallel rows in the baking pan rather than helter-skelter in the pan. It doesn’t taste different either way, but the presentation is neater.
  
• Spread remaining macaroni over the meat sauce layer. Then, top the macaroni with the remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with the final ¼ c. Romano cheese.
• Top with the Bechamel sauce, below.
• Place the baking pan in 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.
• Then, lower oven to 325 degrees.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 30 more minutes or until heated through.
• Note: If you wish to prepare in advance, omit the béchamel and do not bake the assembled pastitso. Just cover it and refrigerate until you are ready to make the Béchamel sauce, bake, and serve.

Make the Béchamel Sauce

• Heat milk in microwave but do not boil. Have the hot milk nearby as you begin melting the butter, and then proceed as follows:
• Melt butter in pan on medium heat. Add flour and whisk until smooth. Lower the heat and gradually whisk in milk, cooking until it thickens.
• Beat 2 eggs, temper with a scant ¼ c. of the roux, then whisk into the béchamel sauce in the pan. Cook over very low heat until it thickens, whisking continuously.
• Pour sauce on the layered pastitso and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon before baking.