Breaking from Julia Child isn’t easy — except when it comes to ratatouille.

For most other French classics, I’ll do whatever Julia, the doyenne of French cuisine , commands, down to blanching, peeling and seeding that very last tomato.

But after spending one too many August afternoons glued to the stove, patiently ministering to each separate pan of eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onion and tomatoes, I finally tried an easier approach to the dish. A chic Parisian told me about sheet-pan ratatouille, a streamlined take that many French cooks have embraced.