This is the way my mother said her mother used the platter to serve macaroni.
First you ladle a few big spoonfuls of tomato sauce on the platter, then some of the drained cooked macaroni, then some sauce, macaroni, the last of the sauce and then she grated romano cheese over it all. Meatballs were served in another dish.
Over the years I've changed the way my mother taught me to make tomato sauce, I use a lot less oil, crushed not whole tomatoes and I buy my romano cheese is already grated. Only problem nowadays is that it's just the 2 of us and I don't make big macaroni dinners. Have to admit I sometimes use bottled tomato sauce, Classico Tomato Basil is what I like best. May
PS. We called it macaroni or spaghetti, never pasta.