Annmarie and I both were raised in Italian families…
Hers is a bit more than mine, but we still ate a ton of pasta and a good deal of meatballs when we were growing up. 
When we visit her family over weekends or on holidays, there are always–of course–pasta and meatballs… and they smell amazing!
So one car ride back from New Jersey we decided that we’d find a meatless and raw alternative so we could feel like we fit in a little more! 
Annmarie did put together a meatfree, raw meatball recipe (with a little help from GoneRaw) and it’s awesome! So here’s how to make ‘em…
Your question of the day: Did you really think that I let Annmarie clean up the water heater mess while I sat around and did something else?!?!
Click here, scroll down to the bottom of the page and add your comment!
Meatless Raw Meatballs Recipe
- 1 cup of soaked walnuts
- 1.5 cups coarsely chopped cremini mushrooms or portabellas marinated at least 1 hour with a little nama shoyu, olive oil and 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 more cloves garlic
- thyme, oregano, parsley to taste
- sea salt and crushed red pepper to taste
- Olive Oil – only for consistency
In a food processor, blend together all. Then with your hands roll out 1 inch balls place on dehydrator tray and dehydrate for 4-6 hours at 115.
Mangia!
Live Awesome!
Kevin
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7:17 pm on June 25th, 2008
yes…i did! HA HA!
great show…can’t wait to make these meatballs.
thanks. by the way, you guys are soooooo cute together!
wendy in honduras!
ps..check out my FB page…new fotos went up today of casa verde! when are you coming? come as my guests!
7:31 pm on June 25th, 2008
Kevin, you are funny! At first I kind of thought, “WHAT?”!!! but then I thought no way, Kevin was defintiely helping poor Annmarie with the water disaster…right? Loved the meatball segment…more, more, more food recipes please! i like the fact that the recipes you present don’t involve a lot of ingredients. Great job!
7:45 pm on June 25th, 2008
Would Ann Marie actually do that? do all the work while you watched? I don’t think so! And I don’t think you would be that type either. Did give me a giggle though. LOL… Jennie xoxoxo
8:11 pm on June 25th, 2008
i liked seeing how you use your particular kitchen. it’s the logistics of raw food fixin’ in one’s particular kitchen space. & seeing the basic raw equipent, too. (somehow fitting in there and doable – haha – my kitchen is small too… it’s always – ‘where are we going to put this?’) – so, THANKYOU.
8:41 pm on June 25th, 2008
Hi Kevin and Annmarie,
I was a little surprised when I read your comment, but then I was hopeing it was a typo, because you don’t seem the type to me to let your wife clean up a mess like that by herself….lol….
9:11 pm on June 25th, 2008
Great cooking video and recipe Kevin and Annmarie!! Looking forward to trying it. You look beautiful as always Annmarie(especially with your hair down). Thanks for taking the time to create these wonderful informative videos for us. I didn’t think you would let Annmarie do all the work of cleaning up the water. You two are a team.
9:20 pm on June 25th, 2008
I DID!!! And i thought that was not very nice for Annmarie. I’m glad you cleared that up …
10:17 pm on June 25th, 2008
Hey Kevin,
…..When I read the typo (still not sure it was a typo..ha!!) I thought you were doing your thing and leaving the clean-up job for Annmarie…..not necessarily that you were sitting watching her do the work but maybe that that kind of work was not for you or maybe you had more important things to do?????? Anyway I was pleasantly pleased to hear that you and Annmarie did the job together…..and that you do help out with the house chores…….Good for you and Good for Annmarie ……….smooches to you both!
Funny what we comment on eh?? I have been watching ur shows for a while now and I just love them and love you and Annmarie for what you are doing for all of us want-a-be raw foodies….
10:24 pm on June 25th, 2008
Hey, Good video on Italian neatballs. I’ll try it.
I did think Annemarie did the clean up because you said she did. I thought it strange, but assumed you had something very important to do elsewhere…
Om,
Kalavati
10:29 pm on June 25th, 2008
Kevin, your typo was fodder for tabloid headlines. Glad to hear cleanup was a team effort.
10:33 pm on June 25th, 2008
Of course I didn’t think so!
Gosh, those meatballs look sooo good. You can actually eat spaghetti squash raw. Just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and goop, and pull out the tendrils with a fork. They’re in there, though not as visible as they would be with a cooked squash.
10:33 pm on June 25th, 2008
those look amazing!! thanks for mentioning other ways to eat them for people not 100% raw. also with the amount of energy you have in every show, i can’t emagine you sitting around watching ann marie. im hoping by making these and eating them i will have that energy too! thanks kevin and ann marie
lisa
10:55 pm on June 25th, 2008
I am sicilian, you gotta know we had pasta every Sunday with the family! Those are great memories of a time gone by, but my love for our ethnic foods will always remain. So happy to have this recipe, can’t wait to try it out. Thank-you.
It never dawned on me that you would stand by and have Ann Marie do all the work, really it’s obvious that you are a got getter kinda guy who is considerate of his mate.
Now………….how about an eggplant recipe???
11:13 pm on June 25th, 2008
You two seem like a very happy pair. You probably always do everything together and I am sure you guys cleaned up the disaster together. Of course…..we’ll never know what REALLY happened! LOL.
Keep up the great work and I love your cooking segments!
11:26 pm on June 25th, 2008
I didn’t read the emails before your correction but wouldn’t think you’d sit there and watch Ann Marie clean. If I had, I would have thought you weren’t home for some reason. You two are too loving together to think you’d do that to her.
The meatballs look awesome. I can’t wait to try them. Now I need the mother of all raw pasta sauce recipes. I’ve tried about 5 different ones and am so unsatified. The raw spaghetti squash is my favorite raw pasta so far though. I may try your recipe with just the porto-bella mushrooms without the nuts. After doing extended fasts, I find myself where Matt Monarach said I’d be, intolerant of too much fat. I need more satiating recipes without nuts, seeds, coconut or high fat concentration. Thank you so much for your videos. I especially appreciate the cooking ones. I’m the only one raw in my house – your cooking shows make me feel less alone in this! I also love that you work together on them. We love you, Kevin – your enthusiasm and positive encouragemnt is so awesome, but you two are really fun to watch together too.
1:24 am on June 26th, 2008
I wasn’t sure but couldn’t understand why you would say Ann Marie cleaned instead of “we” cleaned. Glad to hear you did it too. You’ve renewed my faith in you!!!
Kevin Which Vitamin C supplement do you recommend and how much daily?
Love your shows
2:20 am on June 26th, 2008
oh! yummy! not a meat-ball girl, but since these are raw and looked amazing and i can almost smell the herbs, ill defently make them at some stage.
meatballs are really common in my home country too (norway) and my mum made alot of them when i was growing up, and my brother also ate the ‘meat dough’, he loved it (he would still uptill this day if he didnt turn vegan also), even though there were raw onion, eggs and garlic in it, he just ate the raw meat. eww..never into that.
thanks guys!
AND! NO, i didnt almost even a little bit think u let Annmarie do all the work, u guys are a team, always.
Have a great day!
3:45 am on June 26th, 2008
I just figured you (with Anne-Marie’s agreement and understanding…) had to be elsewhere, ie out buying the necessary to replace the water-heater. Team work has different faces!
7:45 am on June 26th, 2008
Well, I 1. thought Kevin wouldn’t say it if it weren’t so and 2. decided that just because he’s “raw” doesn’t make him a non-chauvenist. So I was thrilled to hear I was wrong…hey Kevin, I signed up for the Inner Circle…does that make me eligible for the free book? I mean, the early bird should get the worm, doncha’ think?
Polly
Marblehead, MA
8:50 am on June 26th, 2008
I came across your site a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I am a nutritional consultant in Florida. You are truly an energetic inspiration, my kind of people. If people would only realize how much happier and healthier they could be if they changed their diet and lifestyle. Our world needs a change from the zombies who take prescription drugs. Wake up America! Stop taking drugs that only hide the symptoms of your ‘conditions’ . Start eating right and get moving!
I especially loved the ‘cucumber soup’ recipe by Frank. I have a small problem though. I CAN’T STOP EATING IT! It is sooooo addicting. Love it! Keep up the good work.
Annie in Florida.
9:03 am on June 26th, 2008
Thank you so much for the meatball dish. I am going to a raw potluck this coming Tuesday and will bring this dish. It would be hard for me to believe you left the clean up work for Ann Marie. From what I’ve seen of the interaction between the two of you it would be inconsistent with who you are. Thank you for giving so freely.
9:05 am on June 26th, 2008
Hi Kevin: I knew that you, being the energetic guy that you are wouldn’t miss out on the wonderful exercise “cleaning” offer. Being that I am a domestic engineer, I know of what I speak. I live in the high desert of the south west and I call it the land of dust and sand and cleaning is no stranger to me, neither is the good work out it provides. Love you guys, and that pix of the two of you at the top of your page is really cute…who did the art..I am asking because I too am an artist…take care and live well
Joey Z.
9:59 am on June 26th, 2008
Actually, I figured Ann Marie chased you out of her way for whatever reason and you were out purchasing a new one.
PLEASE tell me you DID NOT diss Ann Marie’s mother by not eating her meatballs!!! Nothing hurts a mother more than not liking what she cooks!
As far as Ann Marie’s recipe – I would love to try it but don’t have a dehydrator. Can you recommend an alternate way to prepare them?
Thanks
11:44 am on June 26th, 2008
Well, I was wondering!!! I’m happy to hear it wasn’t true..
Great recipe, being part Italian/Sicilian myself I love it and will share!!
12:23 pm on June 26th, 2008
Hey Kevin,
This is the first time I watched a video on your website – great info. I want to make a big change in my eating habits (food lifestyle). I have very limited knowledge about eating a raw foods diet. Could you point me in the right direction to start learning about raw foods?
Thanks,
Tom
12:26 pm on June 26th, 2008
Hey there Kevin,
Don’t worry.. when I read Annmarie had done all the clean-up, I thought you must have been taking over at your fitness center or something. You don’t strike me as the male chauvinistic type.. although since you are in your second year of marriage now, which we are too, my husband would have offered to do it all himself.
Not that I would have let him.. simply because of the logistics of it.. 2 people times 4-5 hours equals 1 person times 8-10 hours. That means less time together. 
Also, being Italian myself and at my dad’s for dinner every other Sunday, I have missed the meatballs and am grateful for the awesome recipe. I will definitely give it a try.
I tried raw ice cream for the first time last night, made from frozen bananas and strawberries. It was great. Maybe you could show us a segment on frozen desserts or making ice cream, sometime. There are so many ways it can be prepared.. and no dairy!! It tasted amazingly like the ice cream I was so used to eating, growing up as a child.
Take care,
Bernadette
1:28 pm on June 26th, 2008
Hello Annmarie and Kevin! Is that a MICROWAVE? I cannot believe it. Tell me it isn’t, that that’s just some American gadget I don’t know about.
1:37 pm on June 26th, 2008
About the smell of meat
I get to smell it everyday here at home and can’t say the faint scent of cooked chicken or beef is bad to me… It’s enough to just smell it! And that’s because I really did not have a hard time giving up up meat. For me it was snap, meat no more.
1:50 pm on June 26th, 2008
Sorry for flooding up your blog! But, is that the dehydrator you were talking about? I’ve never even seen one for sale here!
3:03 pm on June 26th, 2008
I am allergic to mushrooms are there any substitutes for that ingredient?
3:18 pm on June 26th, 2008
I knew that it wasn’t that way you can tell by watching your healthy cooking and eating videos that you two are an awesome team.
I always get a boost of enthusiasm a positive shift in attitude and motivated watching what you guys have to share. You guys are infectious so keep it up your doing great.
The Meatless Raw Meatballs is an awesome dish… Nice very Nice!
Make It A great Day!
4:22 pm on June 26th, 2008
I made your neat balls last night and put them in the fridge. dehydrated then this am for my kayaking trip this long w/e. They are soooo awesome. I used only fresh from my garden herbs. I’ll make a tomato, sun dried tomato and garlic herb sauce for with them and veg, noodles…
)
My carnivore girlfriends will be drooling….
Thanks bunches,
Kalavati,
from Vancouver Island
5:28 pm on June 26th, 2008
Awww, Kevin…I never for one second believed that you’d have made Annmarie deal with that disaster all alone, I just figured you weren’t there at the time.
You have now mentioned this loads of times so it seems like you are really bothered by the idea that we might think you’re a horrible chauvanist. Honestly, anyone who’s been watching the show has seen enough to know that you could never be the sort of chauvanist pig that would make his lovely wife clear up all that water while he relaxed in his armchair! We all know you’re a decent guy Kevin, don’t worry!
Another great show guys. I have disturbing memories of school dinner’s meatballs though so I doubt I will be making this recipe!! I can’t believe I ever ate school dinners as a kid. Oh, the trauma. And I actually asked my mum to let me have them just because my friends all did. Clearly the school caterers never heard of balanced (or even appetising) meals!! The thought of it is enough to make me want to go on a month long detox right away!!
6:48 pm on June 26th, 2008
Well, Kevin, you did say on this video that you sat around eating for another 15 minutes or so while others were washing the dishes (^_^). Just kidding!! I would never have thought you would have left such a huge mess for your dear wife to clean up by herself!!
Jenny
8:14 pm on June 26th, 2008
LOL, I didn’t really think you had Annmarie clean up the water by herself.
10:24 pm on June 26th, 2008
Hello Everyone!!
Kevin never mentioned why the mess was so big in the first place
He had a little bit of a problem trying to drain the tank 
Nothing the two of us could not handle!!
I wanted to get to some of your comments and questions…
Wendy -thanks for the FB wall post also and yes we would love to come. I’ll be in touch!! Thank you so much for the invite the retreat looks amazing
Annie -thanks for the spaghetti squash tip, I have tried that before but I don’t think I had the patients to scrap it out. I will try it again.
Lisa I also have not succeeded at making a raw tomato sauce. I have to say that I make a killer cooked sauce or “gravy” as my family calls it and I really don’t want to give that up!! I do have a client that does and I will get her recipe and put it on the show. She said the tomatoes have to be just right!
Also:
Kalavati if you doen’t mind sharing your recipe!
Terry I’ll have Kevin let you know on a show because I think it is a great question and everybody should hear it!
Polly of course we will send you digital copy of it!! Thanks for signing up and let us know what you think. Also take advantage of the free “Make Over” if you like. You can read more about it on http://www.renegaderoundtable.com
Joey our friend Matt B. he use to draw for Jim Henson
He is fabulous!
Donna you can always slow cook them in your oven if you like. Or you can eat them raw raw
they will just be a little mushy.
Tom keep watching!! Also check out http://www.RawSummit.com
Bernadette thanks for all your great post! And Yes Raw “Ice Cream” is coming!!
Alissa you can try eggplant, I am just not a fan of raw eggplant.
Thanks for watching!!
Much Love,
Annmarie
6:23 pm on June 27th, 2008
Kevin, yes, I just thought you were one of those old-fashioned meat-heads from the 70’s!!!
No, seriously… I never even noticed.
I look forward to making the meat-a-balls.
Judi
11:05 pm on June 27th, 2008
yes it crossed my mind she did it alone snd my hair stood up on the back of my neck:)
but in the back of my mind i thought you had made a mistake!!!!!! whew, glad you cleared that up:)
10:05 am on June 28th, 2008
Thank you Annmarie.
1:28 pm on June 28th, 2008
Hi Annmarie & Kevin,
Leonardo reported a possible MICROWAVE sighting in and around your abod. Before i alert the MICROWAVE POLICE, Kevin, you need to come clean….. was that a MW, our maybe, it was just a beem-up-scotty toy box??
Seriously, is there a useful purpose for this second floor dweller over my gas ranger?
3:04 pm on July 2nd, 2008
Great recipe I can’t wait to try it! I reorganized my small kitchen this morning so that the dehydrator is easier to get at.
GARLIC!!! I can’t use it! It sends my hubby straight to the throne. He loves it but it doesn’t love him. What else could I use to give it some flavour? I’m not very good in the kitchen so I hesitate to just experiment as that usually never goes well. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
Keep up the good work!
Kirsten
PS: I figured it must have been a typo, either that or you were stuck in a commitment and couldn’t help. Some things won’t wait!
4:15 pm on July 2nd, 2008
Hi Kevin & Annmarie:
Yes, I thought you did make Annmarie do all the work – but then I thought Hey, she’s a strong, forceful gal and I doubt she would have let Kevin get away with that, even if he wanted to.
Love your videos, keep sending them.
4:58 pm on July 2nd, 2008
I read the typo and thought, “I can’t believe he let his wife toil for 4 hours cleaning up that mess.” But I didn’t think it sounded like something you’d do, so I reasoned that you must have had to leave to go to another emergency. I’m glad to know that it was a typo, and you’re a more helpful guy than that. Besides Annmarie doesn’t seem like the type to let you get away with something like that.
12:05 pm on September 23rd, 2009
Let me start by saying these are amazing!!! My kids were eating these out of the dehydrator long before they were done.I tweaked them slightly to better accomodate my diet and they still came out great. I used all the same ingredients but with one slight method change.I added the shoyu,garlic,olive oil into the mushrooms in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap and put the bowl in the dehydrator for 2 hours.It made the mushrooms release all their juice into the marinade and I used that as my liquid instead of additional olive oil to get the mixture moving in the food processor.So if anyone is looking to leave out any additional oil..just know it can be done successfully with this recipe.You guys rock…keep up all your great work and thanks for all you do!!1
1:34 pm on January 12th, 2010
We made these last night to add to our already delicious raw spaghetti & it made the dish over the top scrumptious!!!!!!!! Thank you! This meatball recipe is a keeper! Cheers!
12:06 pm on February 22nd, 2010
Okay guys
I just found your blog and this recipe and my comment is not meant to insult, but to inquire as to where I could have gone wrong in making these things because my experience was not nearly like anyone everyone else’s who have posted here (or maybe I did nothing wrong and I just don’t care for them?)
I did everything to the letter and waited with baited breath for them to be pulled from the dehydrator. I took one bite and almost puked
Seriously, they did make me gag and they were immediately thrown down the disposal
So my questions are this: What kind of variables go into making dehydrated creations taste “amazing” or gross? This was my first attempt at a dehydrated recipe so maybe I did something along the way to ruin them? I dehydrated for 4 hours, not six; 115 degrees per recipe; added no extra oil as they stuck together very well without it.
like I said at the beginning, this is not meant to insult; merely to inquire. I love your blog and will be back often as I try to incorporate more raw stuff into my diet. BTW, I have been vegan for over a year, so it’s not like I was expecting these things to taste anything like meat…but I was quite taken aback by my dislike of them and look forward to anyone’s creative feedback
Cheers to all!
10:34 pm on January 21st, 2012
Why do the meatballs need to be dehydrated? I’ve never heard of this before, but I am new to the raw world.