Actually, this dish isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds. It's certainly time intensive -- requiring a little more than three hours altogether, from start to finish -- but for the most part you're just chopping things up and then throwing them in a pot of simmering liquid. Also, it's relatively cheap and uses lots of fresh, seasonal produce, with the only semi-expensive item being the lamb shank. I don't know about you, but I can certainly appreciate an entree that constitutes a full meal in and of itself -- no soups, sides, or salads needed to round this one out.
I recommend you cook this on a lazy Sunday afternoon, reading a good book or playing vidja games during the recipe's downtime (of which there is quite a bit). Use it to impress your boyfriend/girlfriend/platonic life-mate while saving the money you might have blown going on a date to a fancy restaurant.
