French Bread Pizza Sandwich, #SeriousSandwich

French Bread Pizza Sandwich. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Emeril is speaking French with an Italian accent in this French Bread Pizza Sandwich, a truly delicious weeknight meal, and light years beyond any supermarket frozen pizza. The secret is the way the bread is treated - hollowed out, bathed in garlic butter, toasted, then filled with Italian sausage, easy homemade tomato sauce, fresh Italian sausage and cheese, glorious cheese. Baked to cheese-stretching goodness, then served to your family with the admonition, "Be careful of the cheese, it's hot!"

As good is this carnivore's edition is, I can only imagine how much better it will be when I kick it up with the toppings of my favorite pizza - mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, you know, the classic veggie pizza. After all, that's what Emeril would do, right?

French Bread Pizza Sandwich. Lucy Mercer/ A Cook and Her Books

The recipe for the French Bread Pizza sandwich can be found in the genius-packed cookbook "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches" (Morrow, $24.99), on sale now at your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore or online book retailer.

If you've been reading along, you know that this post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogger collective marking the publication of "Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches." Emeril and his culinary team have been generous with their time, reading the stories and answering questions. Emeril took some time to answer a couple of questions from A Cook and Her Books readers.

The first question is from my friend Lynda Mahana of Luvgourmet, who just so happens to be a native of New Orleans:

Q. Do you believe that the choice of bread used is the most important component in assembling a great sandwich?

I think that the bread is just one part of a great sandwich. An important part, for sure, but equally important is what’s found between the bread. A kicked up condiment can really set a sandwich apart from the rest. All of the components have to work together to make a great sandwich. 

Q. What advice do you offer to young people who want to start culinary careers?

A. Get a job in a restaurant to see what it’s really like. Oftentimes, the idea of being a chef doesn’t match the reality. Then, if you’re sure it’s for you, go to cooking school and soak up as much as you can. Once you’re out of school and a part of the work force, work harder still. Don’t be afraid to pay your dues – success doesn’t happen overnight but comes as the reward of hard work and dedication.

Q.  What are your upcoming projects? 

A. I am currently filming a TV show called "Emeril’s Florida," for the Cooking Channel. The show will debut in January 2013 and will focus on the food, cooking, events and activities throughout the state of Florida. It’s been a lot of fun to shoot. 

I know I speak for a lot of readers here when I say we're looking forward to "Emeril's Florida" and hope that there's a cookbook to go with it!

Thanks, Emeril, from myself and all the readers of A Cook and Her Books!

This post is part of #SeriousSandwich, a blogalong sponsored by Morrow Books,
marking the publication of

Emeril’s Kicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99)

If you love cookbooks like I do, you gotta follow The Secret Ingredient Blog from Morrow Books.

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer,

with the exception of the book cover; that belongs to Morrow Books.