Giant plates of spaghetti and meatballs, chicken parmigiana, cheese melted onto crusty slabs of garlic bread, red-and-white checkered tablecloths, and nostalgia—these are all crucial ingredients in the cuisine that’s affectionately known as red sauce Italian. It’s beloved in the US—and as American as apple pie.

Between 1900 and 1910, at least 2 million Italian immigrants arrived in the US, the majority of them hoping to escape the deep poverty of southern Italy. As they adapted to American life, a new cuisine was born. It was influenced by Italian recipes, but using ingredients that most southern Italians had not had economic or geographic access to before. Large portions and thick layers of cheese followed.