Chickpea Pot - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 pound dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
4 cups water
3/4 pound ham hocks
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 pound Italian sausage links, cut into chunks
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 dash ground black pepper

Preparation

Put chickpeas and water in a large pot; soak beans 8 hours to overnight. Or, bring the beans and water to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour.
Add ham hocks, oregano, and bay lead to the water and chickpeas; bring to a boil, place a lid on the pot, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook at a simmer until the chickpeas are tender, about 2 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute sausage chunks in hot skillet until some of the fat renders, 2 to 3 minutes; add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add sausage mixture to the mixture in the pot along with Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the sausage chunks are no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes.