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1
Check chick peas for foreign material, rinse, place in stock pot with 4 C water. Bring to a boil, simmer for 1 hour, turn off and let sit for 2 hours, drain.
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2
While the chick peas are simmering, place ham bone in crock pot with 6 C water and bay leaves. Simmer for 6-8 hours. Add the chick peas when they have soaked for the time stated above. Test at 6 hours to see if the chick peas are tender but still somewhat have texture. You can stop here freeze the stock, chill it for the next day to finish or continue as stated below.
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3
To finish the soup, saute the onion and celery, when sweated down, but not fully cooked and having texture, add the garlic to cook off the rawness.
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4
While the veg is sauteing, add a pinch of red pepper to your taste (just a background note of heat), pick out the ham, and separate the chick peas. Discard the bay leaves. Return the peas to the stock. Add the sauteed veg. to the stock, simmer. Pick off the meat from the ham bone, chop and add to the back to the soup. Remove the stems from the tomatoes and chunk, add the tomatoes with remaining juice. Simmer 15 mins. Season as necessary.
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5
Slice bread. Shred cheese. Dish out in bowls, float a crunchy pies of bread, and add as much cheese as you desire.
