Eggplant and Red-Pepper Lasagna with Herbed Goat Cheese Sauce

Preheat oven to 200°C (approximately 400°F). Parboil lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water, drain and spread on a kitchen towel.

Rinse and scrub eggplant, cut into eighths lengthwise and cut into pieces 2 to 3 cm (3/4 to 1 inch) thick. Sprinkle eggplant slices with a little salt and let stand about 10 minutes. Peel onion and chop finely. Blanch tomatoes a few seconds, peel and cut in half. Rinse bell peppers and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and sauté onion and garlic. Add bell pepper pieces to pan and sauté briefly, then remove from pan. Pat eggplant slices dry with paper towels and sauté in remaining oil. Add tomatoes and onion mixture to eggplant slices, cover pan and cook 3-4 minutes. Season vegetable mixture with salt, pepper and thyme. Cut goat cheese into bite size pieces. Grease a baking dish with butter. Layer 4 lasagna noodles, about one-third of the vegetable mixture and one-third of the pieces of cheese into baking dish. Repeat layers twice with remaining lasagna noodles, vegetable mixture and cheese pieces. Bake about 30 minutes.