Habanero Salsa (recipe from New Mexico State University)

This is a salsa recipe for home canning. The Habanero adds a citrus like flavor to the salsa...and heat! It makes 16-18 pints

7 qt peeled,cored,chopped paste tomatoes (Roma)
4 cups seeded,chopped long green chiles
5 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped,seeded,Hot peppers (Habanero,Jalapeno,Yellow wax)
3 Tbsp oregano leaves*
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro*
2 cups bottled lemon juice
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 Tbsp ground cumin*

Combine all ingredients except cumin,oregano,and cilanro in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add spices and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle hot salsa into pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner: 15 min. at 0-1,000 ft. altitude; 20 min. at 1,001-6,000 ft, 25 minutes above 6,000 ft.

This recipe works best with paste tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes require a much longer cooking time to achieve a desirable consistency.

The only changes you can safely make in this recipe is to substitute bottled lemon juice for vinegar and to decrease the amount of spices and herbs. Do not alter the proportions of vegetables to acid and tomatoes because it might make the salsa unsafe.

*optional